The last ODI century by an Indian woman batter not named Smriti Mandhana or Harmanpreet Kaur was in March 2021 by Punam Raut. That wait finally ended on Tuesday in Vadodara as Harleen Deol notched up her first international hundred in the second ODI against West Indies. Her 115 and half-centuries by three other Indians – Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal and Jemimah Rodrigues – powered the hosts to 358/5, their joint-highest total in the format, which was enough for a 115-run win that sealed the series with a match to go.
In response to India’s mammoth total, Hayley Matthews showed her class with her 7th ODI century, but unlike Deol’s knock, that was surrounded by other significant batting efforts, the West Indies captain waged a lone battle as they were bowled out for 243 in the 47th over.
Deol’s classical strokemaking has always stood out in a stop-start international career but her strike rate has been an issue – 68.88 in ODIs before this ton and 84.79 in T20Is are not standout numbers in the modern game. Had she been caught when she was on 19 off 28 balls, the innings would have ended with a strike rate of 65.5. But Deandra Dottin put down a fairly simple chance at square leg, and Deol made the most of it.
Comprehensive Victory ✅#TeamIndia complete a 115 runs win over the West Indies Women in the second #INDvWI ODI and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series 👍 👍
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/u2CL80qolK@IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/Af5oRXQC4n
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 24, 2024
And so in her 14th ODI innings, Deol converted a slow start into her fastest and most impressive knock yet. Once she got her eye in, the strokes began to flow, and she kept pushing her strike rate up, finishing with her career best of 115 off 103 balls, with 16 fours at a strike rate of 111.65 – the first time she has finished an innings in this format at better than a run a ball. Her first 50 runs came off 62 balls and from there, she put her foot on the pedal, scoring 65 runs off the next 41 balls.
Once she got to three figures, the helmet came off, and she raised her arms with a sense of relief. In the background, Jemimah Rodrigues was beaming for her teammate. After a knee injury at the start of this year’s Women’s Premier League, it’s been a rocky road back for her.
“So happy for Harry, I was with her after she had an ACL surgery in the rehab phase, and from seeing her not being able to walk to her now lifting up her bat and helmet after the century, I got emotional too,” Rodrigues would say later.
“It’s a proud moment, I’ve been waiting for it for a very long time,” Deol, the player of the match, said. “Last two innings, I have had the time to get my eye in when I came to bat and just wanted to go with the flow. I knew that the more time I spend in the middle, the more shots I’ll be able to play. When I was in rehab, I was just thinking about scoring a century. The ultimate goal was to make my team win. And today was actually the day which I’d dreamt of.”
𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙘𝙠! 👌 👌
A well-composed hundred; ft. Harleen Deol 👏 👏
WATCH 🎥 🔽#TeamIndia | #INDvWI | @imharleenDeol | @IDFCFIRSTBankhttps://t.co/wFPrW6Jf9c
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 24, 2024
Pratika makes a mark
That Harleen was able to take her time without too much scoreboard pressure was due to a superb opening partnership. For the second time in a row, Mandhana and Rawal put on 110 runs for the first wicket, but this couldn’t have been more different from the first ODI as the newcomer almost matched the left-hander every step of the way.
Twice on the day, Rawal threw her head back in frustration. The first time, it was a misunderstanding with Mandhana that led to the red-hot Indian opener getting run out – seemingly the only way she was going to be dismissed after looking like a million dollars once more. The second time, Rawal herself was dismissed rather softly when she looked well set for a first international century. A short ball that just bounced a tad more than she expected led to her downfall as she picked up the fielder at midwicket.
1⃣st wicket in international cricket for Pratika Rawal ✅
An excellent catch in the outfield by Jemimah Rodrigues ✅
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/u2CL80qolK#TeamIndia | #INDvWI | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/5ukcw4uefr
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 24, 2024
Apart from those two moments, however, India’s newest debutant put together an impressive knock of 76 off 86 balls, studded with 10 fours and a massive six down the ground. It was the complete antithesis to how her first innings panned out just 48 hours earlier, when she could have been out three or four times within the first 20 odd balls she faced.
“Couldn’t hold my nerve,” she’d say later about her debut knock but those scratchy 40 runs and time spent in the middle meant Rawal was much more fluent in her second outing. She even picked up a couple of wickets, including that of centurion Matthews to cap a memorable day.
Brief scores: India 358/5 in 50 overs (Deol 115, Rawal 76; Fletcher 1/38) beat West Indies 243 in 46.2 overs (Matthews 106, Campbelle 38; Priya Mishra 3/49)
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