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India batter Jemimah Rodrigues expressed her delight after the hosts clinched their first victory against Australia's women's team in Test format on Sunday.
An all-rounded performance saw the women's team register an emphatic eight-wicket victory over the visitors in the one-off Test affair. This victory marked India's second consecutive triumph in red-ball cricket in a single month. Earlier in December, India emerged victorious against England which was also a one-off Test clash. Jemimah was ecstatic after their record success and said after the game, "Test cricket is something I always wanted to play. The first thing is to wear the India blue jersey. We used to not play a lot of Test cricket then. From there to these whites was a dream, but nothing like winning two Tests back-to-back. Getting two back-to-back half-centuries too. Christmas has come early." Jemimah was a crucial figure in the landmark success with her contribution with the bat. She scored a scintillating 73 off 121 deliveries in the first innings. Even against England, she played a game-changing knock of 68 off 99 balls to ensure India had a tight grip over victory. "Even before the domestic season could start, I had set a few goals and one of them was to be consistent. If I can score consistently, my team can go and win, whether it's for Mumbai or India. I keep working hard, don't think too much about results, I had to be consistent with my process. Once you are consistent there, results automatically follow. It's always nice walking in. It was around this time last year I walked in with no scores and didn't have a great series," Jemimah said. "This time, I had a lot of scores backing me and I just went with the confidence. They have inspired me a lot now to bowl. On these wickets there's turn and bounce, I'm from Mumbai, wish I could have contributed a little more but I said I'll leave it for the bowlers," she added. Coming to the clash, Australia skipper Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to bat. India bowlers managed to restrict them at a score of 219. In reply, India posted 406 runs on the board and assailed to a 197-run lead. England in reply could only muster up 261 runs on the board managing to set a target of 73 runs for the hosts. Smriti Mandhana's 74, Jemimah's 73 and Deepti Sharma's 78 laid the foundation for the mammoth score India were able to post in the first innings. India managed to chase down the total comfortably and emerge victorious in the one-off Test. (ANI)
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