Why is Jemimah Rodrigues not playing today: The Indian batter isn’t part of the Playing XI for the first ODI in Hove today.
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England Women have managed to steer to a safe and respectable innings total in the first WODI against India Women in Hove today.
Asked to bat first by visiting captain Harmanpreet Kaur at the toss, England had lost half their side before the 100-run mark just after the halfway mark of their innings.
Playing only her third WODI, England all-rounder Alice Davidson-Richards scored a maiden white-ball half-century playing a pivotal role in her team scoring 227/7 in 50 overs. Davidson-Richards, who scored 50* (61) with the help of four fours, batted at a strike rate of 81.96 at the County Ground on a Sunday afternoon.
Davidson-Richards was well-assisted by Sophie Ecclestone (31) and Charlie Dean (24*) as lower-order contributions worked in the hosts’ favour.
India all-rounder Deepti Sharma was the pick of their bowlers as her bowling figures of 10-1-33-2 comprised of dismissals of Danni Wyatt (43) and Ecclestone. Apart from Sharma, Jhulan Goswami, Harleen Deol, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Meghna Singh and Sneh Rana picked a wicket apiece.
Why is Jemimah Rodrigues not playing vs England today?
Coming on the back of a 1-2 T20I series loss, India lost opening batter Shafali Verma (1) to Kate Cross in the second over to not register the best of starts chasing a 228-run target.
Having said that, opening batter Smriti Mandhana and wicket-keeper batter Yastika Bhatia have been batting at over a run-a-ball to put on display a brilliant progress. Bhatia, in particular, is in the middle of a stroke-filled innings inching towards a fourth WODI half-century.
However, Bhatia’s presence in the middle is making the Indian fans wonder about the absence of batter Jemimah Rodrigues. With most of her international appearances coming in the top-order, Rodrigues not playing this match isn’t because she has been dropped from the Indian squad.
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Readers must note that Rodrigues is currently recovering from a wrist injury which she had sustained during Commonwealth Games 2022 Women’s Cricket Competition in England last month. With Women’s Asia Cup 2022 and Women’s Big Bash League 2022 to be played next month, fans can expect Rodrigues to return to action soon.
