VADODARA – Deepti Sharma and Renuka Singh ripped through the West Indies Women’s batting to lead India Women to a comfortable five-wicket win and a sweep of the three-match One Day International series yesterday at the Kotambi International Cricket Stadium.
Player Of The Match Sharma bagged six wickets – her second five wicket haul in ODIs – and Singh, who was named Player Of The Series, captured the other four as the home side dismissed the Windies for a below par 162 in 38.5 overs, firing out both captain Hayley Matthews and Deandra Dottin cheaply.
All-rounder Chinelle Henry, in her first game of the series topscored with 61, while Shemaine Campbelle made a gutsy 46.
Despite a few hiccups, India wasted little time in getting to their target, with Sharma returning to score an unbeaten 39 to guide them to 167 for five in 28.2 overs for a 3-0 series triumph.
In a post-match interview, Matthews acknowledged the West Indies didn’t score enough runs.
“We were probably a few runs short but good to see the fight shown in the second half. Everyone getting up and about. It shows that no matter what, we want to fight until the very end . . . As a group, we got to see the depth we have. To see Henry stand up, really good and to just gather personal milestones that a lot of the girls have been able to reach,” Matthews noted.
Having lost the first two matches chasing totals over 300, the West Indies chose to bat first this time around after winning the toss, but it did not solve the team’s batting woes.
They endured yet another dreadful start with Qiana Joseph edging the first ball of the innings, a harmless delivery down the leg side by pacer Singh, into the hands of wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh.
Five balls later, Matthews was back in the pavilion for a two-ball duck, bowled by a vicious inswinger from Singh, to leave the Windies one for two.
Dottin drove Titas Sadhu down the ground for a boundary, but Singh bowled her in the next over attempting an ill-advised heave to see the visitors slump to nine for three.
However, a 97-run partnership between Henry and Campbelle brought the Windies right back into the match and gave them hope of posting a competitive total.
They both started slowly, before Campbelle unleased a series of delightful drives and Henry broke the shackles by launching Tanuja Kanwar for a massive six over long on.
Campbelle then turned her attention to legspinner Priya Mishra, hitting her for consecutive boundaries in the 17th over.
Henry moved into the 40s with another huge six off Kanwar, but after guiding the Windies to three figures Campbelle was caught at long on trying to hit Sharma out of the ground.
Zaida James’ stay at the crease didn’t last long, scoring just one run before Sharma had her caught at slip to make it 102 for five.
Henry would eventually bring up her third ODI half century off 62 balls, when she guided Kanwar to third man for two runs.
She then added 39 runs with Aaliyah Alleyne, but once she was bowled by Sharma, it sparked another collapse that saw the West Indies lose their last five wickets for 21 runs, with Sharma being the main destroyer, accounting for the wickets of Alleyne, Afy Fletcher and Ashmini Munisar.
Sharma ended with 6-31, while Singh took 4-29.
The West Indies started positively, with Alleyne removing Smriti Mandhana cheaply for the first time in the series for two, while Dottin dismissed last match hero Harleen Deol for one, to leave India 23 for two.
When Matthews snagged the wicket of Pratika Rawal for 18 and Fletcher bowled captain Harmanpreet Kaur for 32, India were in a spot of bother at 73 for four.
Sharma then came to her side’s rescue again, first adding 56 with Jemimah Rodrigues, who made 29 and then featuring in an unbroken 38-run partnership with Richa Ghosh, who made an unbeaten 23, to carry the home side to victory and ensure the series sweep.
(CMC)
The post India sweep aside Windies Women appeared first on nationnews.com.
