Deepti Sharma's economical three-wicket haul and Richa Ghosh's another sensible knock helped India beat 2016 T20 World Champions by six wickets at Newlands, Cape Town. West Indies continued their losing streak of 15 T20Is after a below par performance in their second group stage encounter.
Shafali starts well
The run chase got off to a fiery start. Indian openers were lucky as edges were flying to the boundary. Mandhana who returned to the side after recovering from finger injury got out stumped for a score of 10. Off-spinner Karishma Ramharack got the first wicket in the fourth over. In the next over, half-centurion of previous game Jemimah Rodrigues got out caught and bowled to Hayley Matthews after scoring just one run. After powerplay overs, India were 41/2.
Despite two wickets opener Shafali Verma got India off to a decent start. But Ramharack struck again to get the big wicket of Shafali. She went for a sweep but was caught by the deep square leg fielder. She scored 28 runs from 23 deliveries including five fours. At the end of eighth over, Taylor was stretchered off the field as she pulled a muscle while throwing from the deep.
Richa - the finisher
Harmanpreet and Richa stabilised the run chase as there was no scoreboard pressure. In the 14th over, they got a reprieve when West Indies wasted away a run out chance. The partnership between the two ensured that India get to the doorstep of victory. In the 18th over, Harmanpreet went for a glory shot and got caught. She scored 33 runs from 42 deliveries in the partnership of 72 for the fourth wicket.
After Chinelle Henry’s maiden-wicket over Richa finished off the run chase with a boundary as India won the game by 11 balls to spare. The wicketkeeper-batter remained unbeaten for 44 off 32 deliveries including five fours.
Early wickets
Earlier, West Indies skipper Matthews won the toss and opted to bat first. Pooja Vastrakar struck with the first ball she bowled to dismiss Matthews (2). This was the first time Vastrakar got rid of Matthews. Stafanie Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle started off slowly but started accelerating after the halfway mark.
Stabilising partnership
The partnership was broke by Deepti in the 14th over. Mandhana took a brilliant catch diving forward from short third man to dismiss Campbelle who scored 30 runs from 36 deliveries in the 73-run partnership for second wicket. In the same over, she trapped Taylor in front of the wickets. The opener scored 42 runs from 40 deliveries including six fours.
Deepti magic
Henry departed early as well. After the misfield, Mandhana threw the ball from point and found Henry (2) short of the crease. India would have got the wicket of Chedean Nation as well if not the dropped catch at long-off.
In the penultimate over, Renuka Singh struck off her last delivery to dismiss Shabika Gajnabi (15) who went for a wild slog. In the last over, Afy Fletcher got out for a golden duck. Deepti became the first Indian to take 100 T20I wickets (male or female). She finished with three wickets for 15 runs in her quota of four overs. Nation remained unbeaten for 21 off 18 deliveries.
