How Jemimah Rodrigues slammed a special century

Before she made her international debut, a young Jemimah Rodrigues was already no stranger to headlines. Prolific on the U19 circuit, a double century she scored in the 50-over format for Mumbai as a 17-year-old pushed her into the limelight. But in a format where she was expected to shine the most, it took a while for the Mumbaikar to find her feet. So much so that she was overlooked for the 2022 ODI World Cup in New Zealand – a phase that left her hurting, and made her question her future in the game.

But five months away from the 2025 World Cup in India, Jemimah is cementing herself as one of India’s batting mainstays, fulfilling the promise she showed in her early days. On Wednesday, she smashed a 101-ball 123 against South Africa in Colombo to seal India’s spot in the Women’s Tri-Series final against Sri Lanka. She dominated the partnership with Smriti Mandhana (51) and then stitched together India’s best-ever fifth-wicket stand with Deepti Sharma (93) to power Harmanpreet Kaur’s side to 337/8, a total that was enough to beat South Africa by 23 runs.

It wasn’t just the highest score of her international career, it was also the best she has batted in the format, nailing the tempo and helping India recover from a shaky start. Walking in at 50/3 as early as the 8th over, Jemimah had all the time to build an innings of substance.

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In control from the start

There is a strong case to be made that Jemimah is now India’s second-most important batter after Smriti. Before she hit her first four, a lovely off-drive that she brought out repeatedly on the day, she was on 3 off 9 balls. With her second four, she went to a run-a-ball 15.

From there on, her strike rate fell below 100 just once – when she was in her 70s. It was an innings of fantastic rhythm, with plenty of hard running between the wickets in the humidity of Colombo, and also frequent shots to the boundary, as she brought out the sweeps and square cuts to devastating effect. As per ESPNCricinfo, Jemimah had a control percentage of 92, and the only reprieve she had was a close LBW shout – otherwise, it was a near flawless knock in which she hit 15 fours and a six.

Having waited seven years for her first international century, she has scored two in 2025, backing up her knock against Ireland in January. “The year has just begun for me. I just want to keep going. The main target is the World Cup of course, but I am very pleased with the knock. Even more special, my parents were not there when I scored my first international century, but they were here today,” Jemimah said after the match.

What she offers this Indian batting line-up is intent to score right from the word go, not necessarily in terms of peppering the boundary like Richa Ghosh can, but by staying busy at the crease, finding gaps and keeping things simple yet effective. At No.5, she seems to have found a good spot, even though there is still a case to be made for her to pushed up to No.3 – coming into bat inside the first 10 overs and playing the way she did in this innings is an indicator she might be more effective at one down.

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“The confidence I have and, more than that, just me understanding my game (has helped me in this format),” Jemimah said. “Usually, I used to play 4-5 dot balls, get panicky and throw my wicket. But now I think that a sense of calmness is there. I can make up anytime. A lot of T20 cricket has helped me.”

In a way, she is making up for lost time in this format and starting to live up to her promise as a young Jemi.

Brief scores: India 337/9 (Jemimah Rodrigues 123, Deepti Sharma 93; Masbata Klaas 2/51) beat South Africa 314/7 (Annerie Dercksen 81, Chloe Tryon 67; Amanjot Kaur 3/59) by 23 runs

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