Precious tears of India's World Cup hero Jemimah Rodrigues

India's hero Jemimah Rodrigues showed that it is okay to talk about your struggles, that it is okay to shed tears. "I will be very vulnerable here because I know if someone is watching, this might be going through the same thing," Jemimah said after steering India to a famous win over Australia in the semifinal of the ICC Women's World Cup.

The 25-year-old made an unbeaten 127 as India chased down 339 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai Thursday night. It was arguably the biggest win by the Indian women's team, certainly the best considering the occasion. India will play South Africa in the final on Sunday.

India lost Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana inside 10 overs. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur's valiant 89 ably supported Jemimah's effort. In the end, Jemimah was in tears, but it wasn't just the joy of overpowering the defending champions, it was personal. She opened up in front of the media, about breaking down over phone calls with parents as she tried to cope with the pressure. She had missed the previous edition of the World Cup due to a dip in form, and here too she had external pressure to deliver.

"I was going through a lot of anxiety and when you are going through anxiety, you just feel numb," Jemimah said, unable to control the tears. "You don't know what to do. You are trying to be yourself. And in this time, my mum and dad supported me a lot.

"When you are dropped, you have a lot of doubts because I always want to contribute to the team. That really hit me ... But sometimes all you need to do is, just hang in there and, things fall into place."

Jemimah said she was glad to have had the support of good friends to get through the phase. "I am so blessed to have friends, I can call family, I didn't have to go through it alone. And it's okay to ask for help," she said.

Jemimah had scored a composed 76 not out against New Zealand before her brilliant century against Australia. "All I would say was I didn't play for my 100. I didn't play to prove a point at number three," she said. "I just played to make sure India win. I wanted to see India win at the end and that was my only motivation."