Kohli’s heroics inspired us to victory vs Pakistan: Jemimah

TIL Desk Sports/ Virat Kohli’s MCG heroics helped inspire India’s thrilling win over Pakistan at the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Cape Town on Sunday, admitted match-winner Jemimah Rodrigues. Rodrigues blasted a brilliant 53 not out off 38 deliveries to steer her side to a memorable seven-wicket win.

And those exploits saw her emulate Kohli’s similarly decisive innings against the same opponent in the men’s competition last year, anchoring India to a heart-thumping four-wicket triumph with a stunning 82 not out off 53 balls in Melbourne. Rodrigues says playing against Pakistan injected an extra edge to their Group B showdown and memories of watching Kohli helped haul India over the line.

The 22-year-old said: “India vs Pakistan matches are always a little bit more special – we spoke about it in the team meeting. “Growing up we always watched these matches. I remember watching the match at the MCG where Virat Kohli played such an extraordinary knock. “We did speak about it but we also just wanted to go out there and put our first win on the board.