Highlights:
- Deepti Sharma’s superb bowling helped India secure a six-wicket victory over West Indies in the Women’s T20 World Cup.
- West Indies struggled early on and despite a 73-run partnership, Sharma removed both key players to give India the initiative.
- India had a shaky start to their batting innings, but a partnership between Richa Ghosh and Harmanpreet stabilized the innings, with Ghosh’s unbeaten 44 helping India win.
India beat West Indies by six wickets on Wednesday to maintain their strong start to their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign in South Africa.
The Indian team’s star of the day was Deepti Sharma, who finished with figures of 15 for 3 in her four overs after taking three wickets to reach a new milestone.
In Newlands, Cape Town, West Indies chose to bat first after winning the toss for the day.
West Indies’ innings got off to a terrible start as Pooja Vastrakar got the wicket of their captain Hayley Matthews in the second over. With a strong 73-run partnership, Campbelle and Taylor quickly applied the pressure back on the Indian squad.
With six boundaries in her knock, Taylor scored 42 off 40 balls. Campbelle was removed for 30 runs by Deepti Sharma in the 14th over, ending the partnership. The Indian all-rounder then removed Taylor in the following over, giving India the initiative once again.
After getting run out by Mandhana and Ghosh, Chinelle Henry was the next target as the Windies innings began to crumble. Although Shabika Gajnabi and Chedean Nation restored some order to the innings, the scoring pace had significantly decreased as a result of the Indian bowlers’ tightening of the screws on their opponents.
Then, after Deepti Sharma grabbed her third wicket in the following over and became the first Indian bowler to surpass 100 wickets in T20Is, Renuka Singh dismissed Gajnabi in the nineteenth over. At 118 for 6 in their 20 overs, West Indies’ innings was over.
Shafali Verma’s 12 runs in the first over gave the Indian innings a strong start, giving India the upper hand. However, Mandhana was having trouble finding her rhythm at the other end, and her stay was cut short when she approached Karishma Ramharack and encountered difficulties.
Jemimah Rodrigues, the star of the previous game, spent only a short time on the field before being removed by Matthews. When India was 43 for three in 7.1 overs, Ramharack then secured the crucial wicket of Verma.
The innings was then stabilised by Richa Ghosh and captain Harmanpreet, who also began to find the gaps and notch significant boundaries. Together, they made sure that there were no more obstacles and put on a strong partnership.
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The skipper was finally bowled out for 33 runs in the 18th over, but Ghosh made sure the task was completed by scoring the winning runs with 11 balls remaining. Ghosh finished with 44 points off of 32 balls and continued to be unblemished.
India’s next Pool B match will take place against England on February 18.