India 241 beats per 4 (Rawal 89, Hasabnis 53*, Mandhana 41) Ireland 238 for 7 with 6 wickets (Lewis 92, Paul 59, Mishra 2-56).
While Rawal steadily switched gears after playing second fiddle to Smriti Mandhana in a powerful 70-run opening stand, Hasabnis showed an aggressive game and favored the big guns from the start.
Hasabnis was unable to make the XI in any of the three ODIs against West Indies late last month and got his chance here as Harmanpreet Kaur was rested. She repaid the faith by scoring a half-century off just 43 balls and remaining unbeaten off 53 balls.
As India’s chase heads home, Rawal’s impending century has become a matter of great interest. Rawal showed his passion for running through the 80s. With Rawal needing 25 and India needing just 21, she tore through left-arm spinner Aimee Maguire for 24 and a six.
The first of those four was an internal drive that was aesthetically pleasing beyond the additional cover for the swivel. She followed that up with two big hits to the ground. When Orla Prendergast took a great catch on the 89th hole, she went inches clear of the boundary in an attempt to get the ball down the ground with six seconds to play.
Rawal walked out to a standing ovation. It was thanks to her incredible strokeplay after she passed 50 that she got any chance of scoring her first ODI century. Richa Ghosh hit the first two balls for a boundary to seal India’s win in the 35th over.
Rawal could not remain unbeaten, but Hasabnis did no harm to her reputation and showed the ability to be the big-hitting middle-order batsman India would like to have. She got off to a very early start, finishing with a 22 on the 24th hole to beat Laura Delany by two straight fours.
When Delany got out midway through the over, Prendergast came under the hammer of Hasabnis and hammered a length ball through extra covers for his third four. The enterprising nature of the Rawal-Hasabnis partnership enabled India to charge towards the goal.
The pair appeared to be headed for freefall when rookie legpinner Priya Mishra sent back Ireland’s most experienced batsmen Prendergast and Delany with 14 consecutive deliveries. A stand of 117 was shared to save the innings. 56 in 4.
However, India did not boil down the field and dropped four catches which were instrumental in allowing Ireland to bat the full 50 overs. Lewis got his first reprieve on 59 when Richa Ghosh was relieved of the catch to prevent a healthy edge with his boot. Paul was dismissed in successive overs, dismissed off her own bowling by Titas Sadhu and Mishra at deep midwicket after the batsman crossed her seventh ODI half-century.
Then, with Ireland looking to accelerate the end overs, Harleen rescued Arlene Kelly at extra cover. Ireland’s batting out of all 50 overs should be considered a small victory of sorts considering only two players – Lewis and Delaney – have ever played for India.
Cameos from Kelly and Christina Coulter Reilly helped Ireland score a few crucial runs in the death overs, but it was shown very early on that it would not be enough as Mandhana turbocharged towards successive pull shots off her blistering 41. It became clear. .
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo.
