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West Indies 160 for 1 (Matthews 85*, Joseph 38) beat India 159 for 9 (Mandhana 62, Dottin 2-14, Fletcher 2-28) by nine wickets
West Indies levelled the T20I series in style, with captain Hayley Matthews at the forefront of a robust batting performance in a nine-wicket thrashing. Matthews hit an unbeaten 85, courtesy 17 fours, just four less than India’s 21, to help West Indies break a sequence of nine straight T20I losses to India.
Matthews’ brilliance helped cover up for a shoddy fielding display in which Qiana Joseph, who fuelled the chase with 38, put down India’s stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana once. However, India’s 159 for 9, on the face of dew and some serious batting muscle, was never going to be enough as West Indies showed.
Chetry, debutant Bist fall cheaply
India’s inexperienced top-order left them wobbling. Deandra Dottin castled Uma Chetry with an in-ducker for 4. Afy Fletcher, who went for 39 in her four overs two nights ago, had debutant Raghvi Bist lbw for 5. In between these two strikes, Jemimah Rodrigues fell attempting to get inside the line and paddle. At 48 for 3 in the 9th over, West Indies had India tottering.
Dropped catches let Mandhana off the hook
India’s flagging hopes received a massive fillip thanks to some West Indian generosity as they dropped Mandhana thrice – twice by Chinelle Henry – between overs 11 to 14. Mandhana would soon run out of luck, though, in the 14th but not before raising a second straight half-century, off 37 balls. Amid those dropped catches, India hit six fours and a six in a two-over period that fetched 36, as they went from 72/3 in 12 overs to 108 for 4 in 14.
Dottin brilliance helps West Indies pull things back
If overs 12 to 14 produced boundaries, the next two applied the skids as West Indies removed Deepti and S Sajana. But Richa Ghosh cut, pulled and flat-batted the spinners to race to 32 off 16. Just as she raised hopes of a hair-raising half-century, she was sent back by a flying Shemaine Campbelle behind the stumps as Ghosh attempted to scythe Dottin’s yorker.
Then, in the final over, Dottin showed off her athleticism in running at least 20 yards around the long-on fence to pull off a stunning catch on the move to dismiss Radha Yadav. However, India’s 159 for 9, despite all the fielding lapses in the middle, seemed underwhelming.
Joseph made up for her fielding lapses by laying into rookie Titas Sadhu to kickstart the chase. Her fast hands and clean slogging brought her three fours and a six in an 18-run second over. Renuka Singh then came for punishment as Joseph muscled a monstrous six in a 14-run over. The openers brought up a half-century opening stand inside five overs. Saima Thakor picked her first T20I wicket when she deceived Joseph with a back-of-the-hand slower ball in the seventh over, but by then the base had been laid with a 66-run stand.
Mathews finishes it in style
That was to be India’s only moment of comfort on the field as Mathews quickly took charge to raise a 31-ball half-century in the same over where she dispatched left-arm Radha Yadav for four back-to-back fours. India managed 21 fours and a six in their entire innings. West Indies had matched that boundary count by the 13th over itself to make it a one-way traffic. The series couldn’t have been levelled with a more emphatic chase.
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