IND-W vs IRE-W 2025: Pratika Rawal continues dream start in international cricket, scores maiden ton

Pratika Rawal took her dream start in international cricket to another level when she slammed her maiden ODI ton against Ireland Women in the third ODI at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot on Wednesday, January 15.

The right-handed batter came into the encounter having scored 290 runs from five ODIs. In the first two matches, she registered scores of 89 and 67. However, she saved her best for the last encounter as she took the Ireland bowlers to the cleaners.

Smriti Mandhana won the toss and opted to bat first on what looked like a flat surface. The southpaw started to attack the bowling from the outset and slammed the fastest century by an Indian woman. She reached the three-figure mark off just 70 deliveries. After Smriti departed for an 80-ball 135, Pratika started to shift gears by scoring boundaries at will.

She reached her first-ever century in international cricket off just 100 deliveries when she took a single off Ava Canning's bowling in the 35th over. Pratika hit two fours and a six in the following over to show that she was hungry for more runs. She continued the onslaught and helped India register their highest ODI total.

In the 44th over, Pratika raised her bat once again as she reached the 150-run mark off just 127 deliveries. The 24-year-old was eventually dismissed off the last ball of that over after scoring a magnificent 154 off 129 balls. She struck 20 fours and a solitary six during her knock.

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Pratika stitched partnerships of 233, 104, 50 with Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, and Tejal Hasabnis, respectively. The Indian wicketkeeper-batter smashed 59 off 42 balls, hitting 10 fours and a six. India eventually finished on 435/5 at the end of 50 overs.

Just took it ball-by-ball: Rawal

"I was just going ball-by-ball, I was not thinking much in terms of what shots to play, I was taking it one step at a time. I was a bit slow when I was in my 70s, that 20–30 runs came slow, but I covered it up later on," Rawal said in a mid-innings interview.

"(On Smriti Mandhana) It’s always a treat to watch her, she hit her shots with immense power, I don’t mind taking a backseat. There was not much going on in my mind, we wanted to cross 400, and we managed to post around 430, so that’s really good. I don’t think there’s any magic here, we are very comfortable with each other, we are not thinking about records, we are just taking it ball-by-ball and that’s making the difference (about her partnership with Smriti)," the youngster added.