India eye their maiden Women's ODI World Cup title as they takes on South Africa in the final on Sunday. However, rain threat looms large over the much-anticipated encounter in Navi Mumbai. A yellow alert has been issued for Maharashtra, with Mumbai and nearby regions expected to receive light to moderate rainfall with chances of thunderstorms. According to Accuweather, there is nearly 86 percent chance of rain on Saturday and on Sunday, there is 63 per cent chance of rain. Between 4 PM and 7 PM, there is over 50 per cent chance of rain. The DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai has already witnessed a washout when India faced Bangladesh.
What happens if the Women's ODI World Cup final is washed out?
If play is not possible on Sunday, there is a reserve day on Monday. However, according to Accuweather, there is 55 per cent chance of rain on that day as well.
Massive praise for Jemimah Rodrigues
Meanwhile, the Indian Premier League (IPL) chairman, Arun Dhumal, feels that Jemimah Rodrigues, with her splendid 127 (134) in the Women's World Cup semi-final against Australia, "replayed" the famous Kapil Dev innings from the 1983 World Cup against Zimbabwe.
In the pulsating semi-final at the DY Patil Stadium on Thursday, Australia blazed their way to a daunting 338, leaving India to gun down the highest run-chase in the history of the Women's World Cup. Jemimah kept India in the run chase after the hosts lost Smriti Mandhana (24) and Shafali Verma (10) in the power play. From 59/2, Jemimah took India past the finishing line. With fortune on her side, Jemimah saw her two catching opportunities go down while pursuing the 339-run target.
She found the ideal support from skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (89), Deepti Sharma (24) and Richa Ghosh (26) to script a new record for the highest successful run chase in Women's World Cup history. For Dhumal, Jemimah "replayed" Kapil's unbeaten 175 against Zimbabwe in the 1983 World Cup, a performance which wasn't televised. During Kapil's memorable exploits, India was struggling at 5/17 before Kapil delivered a batting masterclass.
During India's group stage encounter against Australia, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side fell to a defeat despite posting 330 on the board.
The IPL chairman classified Jemimah's memorable outing as the best in the ongoing marquee event
"It was phenomenal to watch Jemimah, the way she played the way she did yesterday. In fact, none of us remembers Kapil Dev's innings against Zimbabwe. So she replayed that inning, you know, that was played for the quarter-final, and Jemimah did what Kapil Paji did long back, which was unfortunately not broadcast, but this was fortunately broadcast," Dhumal said while speaking exclusively to ANI.
(With ANI inputs)