Riding on a superb spell of 3/15 from off-spinner Deepti Sharma and contributions with the bat from wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh and captain Harmanpreet Kaur, India have handed West Indies a 6-wicket defeat in their second Group B fixture of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup here at the Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town.
While India were asked to field first, West Indies didn't get off to a great start as Pooja Vastrakar got rid of Hayley Matthews in the second over itself. Post this early dismissal though, the Windies duo of Stafanie Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle helped the team get back into the game as they added 73 runs off 74 balls for the second wicket. However, in perhaps the most decisive moment in the match, Deepti scalped two wickets in an over, getting rid of both the set batters.
In the very next over, India produced a run out getting 3 West Indies wickets in a span of 6 balls just when their innings needed some sort of an impetus. From there on, Chedean Nation and Shabika Gajnabi's innings did try and help them finish on a high but ultimately could only finish at 118/6.
In response, India got off to a flier when the openers helped them get to 28/0 in the first 2 overs bowled by the opposition pacers. But when the spinners came on, India couldn't continue with the same momentum as India ended the powerplay at 41/2, losing Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues. Not much later, Shafali Verma also departed leaving the side in a bit of bother but the partnership worth 72 off 65 deliveries between captain Harmanpreet and Ghosh put India on the verge of their second back to back win.
Harmanpreet departed close to the finish line (33 off 42) and it was fitting that the batter who looked the most fluent in the Indian innings, Ghosh, finished off the match with a boundary, remaining unbeaten on 44 off 32 in the end. For West Indies, Karishma Ramharack was the best bowler on the day, scalping 2 wickets for 14 runs in her 4 overs but she needed better support from her co-bowlers to prevent India from wrapping up the game with 11 balls to spare.
Playing 11s-
India:
Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Devika Vaidya, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Thakur Singh
West Indies:
Hayley Matthews (c), Stafanie Taylor, Shemaine Campbelle, Shabika Gajnabi, Chinelle Henry, Chedean Nation, Rashada Williams (wk), Afy Fletcher, Shamilia Connell, Shakera Selman, Karishma Ramharack