On Sunday, at Newlands Cricket Ground, Jemima blasted an impressive 53 off 38 deliveries to guide her team to a memorable seven-wicket win and start the tournament brightly.
Jemimah’s superior efforts, including a triple from Fatima Sanaa in the 19th over, saw her similarly decisive Kohli innings against the same opposition in last year’s Men’s T20 World Cup, to anchor India to a crushing four-wicket victory with a staggering 82. Not out of 53 balls in Melbourne.
“India-Pakistan matches are always more special – we talked about it at the team meeting. We always watched these matches growing up. I remember watching the match at the MCG where Virat Kohli played such an extraordinary kick.”
“We talked about it but we also wanted to go out and put our first win on the board. We just wanted to go out and play the same cricket and the same intensity as always. I knew we had to build partnerships if we took it deep we would win,” she said in the post-match press conference.
After chasing 150, Jemimah shared an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 58 with wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh, who was also unbeaten on 31 off 20 balls, eventually giving India their first two wicket haul in the group stage of the competition.
“We knew they were going to throw a bad ball at the end and we’d take advantage – it was a tough wicket but it helped. It was a team effort. We’ll let the win pass, but the championship is just beginning. We want to do the simple things right and then the results will take care of themselves.”
Jemimah entered the tournament on the back of a barren run of performances and only achieved an individual score of over 30 in the last 10 T20I innings. But when it mattered most, with Smriti Mandhana no longer in the squad, she stood up to take India home, in front of her parents on the field.
This time last year, Jemima was left out of India’s squad for the FIFA World Cup in New Zealand, a phase that she herself said was one of her worst periods in life. “It was the hardest time for me. If it wasn’t for my family, my parents, my brothers, and there were so many people I couldn’t name because we would be sitting here until midnight. There were so many people who helped all this time.”
“These innings mean a lot to me – I haven’t got the scores for a long time. As a putter when you don’t get the scores it’s definitely not a fun time. I was working hard at the net, I knew I was ticking all the boxes, putting in the effort and going to the gym It was very difficult but when it mattered most, he came, so for me it was very special.”
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