Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and opener Smriti Mandhana powered India to an unassailable total of 167/2 with powerful half-centuries as India won their second successive match of the ongoing South Africa Women's T20I Tri-Series by 56 runs on Monday, January 23. This victory backed up their brilliant win over South Africa in the opener of the precursor to the T20 Women's World Cup.
Mandhana carried the bat with her 74 runs in 51 balls, while Harmanpreet hit a comprehensive 35-ball 56, forging an unbeaten 115-run stand. Then the job of the bowlers was to restrict their opponents, and they did just that with the Windies only able to score 111/4 in their stipulated 20 overs.
Batting prowess
India opted to bat first on the slowish track but found it hard to score in the first half of their innings. The side kept their cool and conserved their wickets, with Mandhana first combining with wicketkeeper-batter Yastika Bhatia (23-ball 18) for a 33-run opening stand.
After managing only 37 runs in the powerplay overs, during which they also lost Yastika, the arrival of Harmanpreet following the wicket of Harleen Deol (11-ball 12) brought in the power that the Indian innings needed. She kept the pressure on the West Indies bowlers, which also allowed Mandhana to start scoring more freely.
Partnership record
As the vice-captain reached her 20th T20I half-century off Shabika Gajnabi in the 16th over, her skipper continued to take the opponent spinners to the cleaners. Mandhana raised the century of their partnership in the penultimate over with only six of India's innings, while Harmanpreet reached her ninth T20I fifty in the final over.
Together the pair added 115 runs in just 70 balls - 107 of which came in the second half of the innings - to set West Indies an above-par target to chase.
Bowlers shine
After the performance of the batters, the bowlers complement their batters, with the Windies women facing similar issues as the Indian women.
Striking early for India was their in-form all-rounder Deepti Sharma, who got the wicket of Britney Cooper for a first-ball duck on his very first ball of the match. Three overs later, they sent Rashada Williams packing for eight runs off 13 balls, before Rajeshwari Gayakwad trapped Gajnabi LBW just after the powerplay to reduce West Indies to 25/3.
Gajnabi played a very slow innings of three runs in 10 balls, and their slow momentum was continued by Shemaine Campbelle, although the side led a mini fightback alongside skipper Hayley Matthews. She scored 47 runs in 57 balls and set up a 71-run partnership with Matthews, which was eventually broken by Radha Yadav in the 18th over.
Despite Matthews' 29-ball unbeaten 34, and an overall 72 that West Indies scored in a productive second half of their chase, her side fell well short of the required target.
