IND vs PAK Women's T20 World Cup 2023: Jemimah Rodrigues dedicates her POTM award to parents 

Indian batter Jemimah Rodrigues dedicated her Player of the Match award from the India vs Pakistan game in the 2023 Women's T20 World Cup to her parents.

Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat first in both the teams' first match of the tournament, played at Newlands, Cape Town. Impressive knocks from skipper Bismah Maroof (68*) and middle-order batter Ayesha Naseem (43) pushed Pakistan to 149 in the first innings.

Rodrigues played an integral role in the tricky run-chase, scoring an unbeaten 53 from 38 balls, including eight fours, at a strike rate of 139.47.

Rodrigues slammed three boundaries off youngster Fatima Sana in the penultimate over to take India past the finish line. India won by seven wickets with one over to spare.

The India No. 3 batter was awarded the Player of the Match award for her calm and composed knock. This performance even sweeter for the young Indian star as her parents, Ivan and Lavitha Rodrigues, had travelled all the way to South Africa to support the Indian team from the stands.

During the presentation ceremony after the match, Jemimah Rodrigues dedicated her POTM award to her parents, saying:

"I think this innings means a lot to me since I haven't been scoring much of late. God has been great. My parents are here - I want to dedicate this to them."

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"We were just keeping over by over targets" - Jemimah Rodrigues

Jemimah Rodrigues put up an undefeated 58-run stand along with wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh, who scored 31 from 20 balls, to take India to a win.

With 41 required from the last four overs, Ghosh and Rodrigues combined to smash Nida Dar for 13 runs in the 17th over. In the next over, Ghosh slammed three fours in a row off Aiman Anwer to bring the equation to 14 runs off 12 balls.

Just before Jemimah hammered Fatima Sana in the 19th over, Ghosh slammed three consecutive fours against Aiman Anwer to pull the equation to 14 runs from the last two overs.

While revealing the strategy in the death overs to get over the line, Jemimah said:

"I actually don't know what to say. I knew we had to build partnerships and we had to take it deep. Richa and I shared a good partnership in the Asia Cup. We knew that we could chase any target. I had a good partnership with Shafali too."

She added:

"We were just keeping over by over targets. We just needed 10 runs by over. If we were going over by over we needed just 9-10 runs an over. If we were there till the end, we knew we would get it. It was a slower wicket. It was a little difficult but it was easier for the set batter to play. It was a team effort."

The Indian women's team will play against the West Indies in their next match of Group B on February 15 at the same venue. Hopefully, Jemimah Rodrigues will shine in that game also.