India all-rounder Deepti Sharma said she never stopped believing in her hard work during the nine-year-long wait for hitting a second ODI hundred, which finally ended when she scored an unbeaten 106 against Zimbabwe in the team's 121-run win in the second ODI.
At the BCA Stadium on Sunday, Deepti’s unbeaten 86-ball knock helped India reach 328/6 and then get a series-clinching win with a game to spare. Deepti’s maiden ODI hundred had come in May 2017, an epic 188 off 160 balls against Ireland in South Africa.
The gap between her two centuries in the format stretched to nine years and five months, or 3,450 days. "I tried a lot, but it took a lot of time to reach. But I believed in my hard work that I would reach (another century) sooner or later," Deepti was quoted as saying by ICC on Monday.
Deepti, who struck 15 boundaries, found an able partner in former skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, as they put on 153 runs together for the fifth wicket. Deepti, who later picked a three-wicket haul with her off-spin, said building a partnership was uppermost in her mind, rather than the three-figure mark.
"I think more than 100 was in my mind. How can we build a partnership in that situation? That was the mindset. And obviously, 100 is special. It feels good to reach after such a long time. And I am grateful that I was able to achieve that on the ground of Baroda."
Zimbabwe made a spirited effort in the chase before being bowled out for 207, and Deepti was generous in her praise of the visitors. "They played (well) in the first ODI as well. They have good batters in their team as well. We cannot say that they are a weak team or play differently. But they gave us a fight."
"We knew that we could dismiss them given our bowling unit. That was the mindset. And I think all the bowlers did a good job. In fact, the whole team gave a good performance," she added. The third and final match of the series will be played in Vadodara on Wednesday.
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 "'I believed in my hard work': Deepti Sharma ends 9-year wait for second ODI century against Zimbabwe")
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