NEWSA fit-again India batter Jemimah Rodrigues on Saturday credited her match-winning knock against Sri Lanka in the women's Asia Cup to the preparation she had on a similar slow and low-bounce track in Bengaluru ahead of the T20 tournament.
The 22-year-old right-handed batter, who has recovered from a wrist injury that had ruled her out of the recent England series, struck 76 off 53 balls with the help of 11 fours and one six to lay the foundation of India's 41-run win.
"The wicket was tricky, it kept on the lower side, initially it was not turning, but then it turned. But I had prepared well for this, even in Bangalore I asked for slower and turning wickets. That preparation really helped me here," Rodrigues said after the match.
"I would like to thank Mumbai - the heat is the same here as it is where I stay back in Mumbai."
Rodrigues said she was eager to play after not touching the bat for six weeks (due to injury).
"It was tough not doing the thing I love and seeing everyone else do it. But everyone helped me, my parents, coaches and my trainers, I wanted to thank them. Nothing like coming back and playing for India," said Rodrigues, who was adjudged the player of the match.
"We will take the win and take the positives from this win. The bowlers did really well -- everyone and this is what we are as a team. This is the confidence we are going to build on. The talk before the tournament was 'we have set the standard and we want to raise that further'."
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur said her team was 20-run short but felt it was a learning process.
"We did not start off well but those crucial run-outs and we kept getting wickets. We are happy as few of our bowlers stood up, especially Deepti Sharma," Harmanpreet said.
"After losing crucial wickets, after losing my wicket, we were short by 20 runs. Had I and Jemi continued, we would've looked at 200, but it's a learning process for us as a team."
She lauded Rodrigues for her knock in her comeback match.
"Jemi (Jemimah) played really well, that's what we were expecting from her. It was not easy after coming back from injury, but we backed her during her tough times and she worked hard in the NCA as well."
Chasing 151, Sri Lanka were dismissed for 109 in 18.2 overs and captain Chamari Athapaththu said her side lost a couple of wickets in the crucial times, and rued the run-outs.
"Jemimah batted very well in these conditions and we have to stick with our plans in the next few games. The run-outs affected us and we have to concentrate on running between the wickets."
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