Team India begins its 20 Day tour in the Caribbean on 1st November with an ODI to be played against West Indies Women in Antigua at Sir Vivian Richards Cricket Stadium. But before the action unfolds, let us take a look at the previous 5 encounters between India Women and West Indies Women.
1) ICC Women’s World Cup Group match – 2013, Mumbai
Played at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai, this was the 1st match of the 2013 Women’s World Cup. Winning the toss, West Indies elected to bowl first on a typical Mumbai pitch which offers good bounce. The Indian opener, Thirush Kamini was playing her 1st International game after a gap of three years, scored a magnificent 100. She was well supported by Poonam Raut who made her way to a classy 72 and brought India’s highest partnership in World Cups(175). Decent contributions from the middle order helped India finish with 284, their highest World Cup total.
Leading the way with the ball were Jhulan Goswami, Amita Sharma and Nagarajan Niranjana who kept the Windies under pressure. They lost their opener on the 2nd ball of the chase, courtesy a direct hit from Kaur. In no time West Indies were 38-3 and were unable to build the chase. Dottin top scored with 39 and the Carribean team was eventually bowled out for 179 handing Indians a 105 runs victory.
Thirush Kamini was the Player of the Match for her stupendous 100.
Result: India Won by 105 Runs
2) Indian Women vs West Indies Women 1st ODI – 2016, Vijaywada
The 1st ODI of the series saw Indian women thrash the West Indies women by 6 wickets with almost 11 overs to spare. Winning the toss, West Indies women elected to bat first. Windies lost their opener in the 2nd over of the match, thanks to Shikha Pandey. West Indies skipper Taylor and opener Matthews started building the innings but Ekta Bisht removed both the batswomen and West Indies were reduced to 63-5 by the 18th over. Their highest scorer of the innings was wicketkeeper Merissa Aguilleira with a score of 42*. Rajeshwari Gaikwad cleaned up the Windies tail and claimed 4 wickets. West Indies were bowled out for a mere 131.
The Indian chase too didn’t start off well with both the openers failing to score big. India’s no.3 Mona Meshram too was dismissed for 2. Mithali Raj coming at no. 4 looked sedate and calm but lost the support of Kaur and in no time Indian was 36-4. Coming in at 6, Veda Krishnamurthy along with the skipper restructured the innings and made sure India win comfortably.
Result: India Won by 6 Wickets
3) India Women vs West Indies Women 2nd ODI – 2016, Vijaywada
With a thumping win in the 1st ODI, India came into the 2nd ODI with great confidence. Luck favoring the host, India won the toss and elected to field. The openers struggled yet again and were dismissed in consecutive overs with the score reeling 20-2. West Indies skipper Taylor and middle-order batswoman both were dismissed for 15. Deandra Dottin top scored with 63 and she with the help of wicketkeeper Merissa had a partnership of 70 off 110 between them. Brilliant bowling at the start, wickets at regular intervals and some excellent death bowling meant Windies could only score 153.
Starting the chase, Thirush Kamini was dismissed for obstructing the field and it was a bizarre start for the chase. Mandhana along with Deepti Sharma steadied the innings with the latter falling for 32. Smriti was also dismissed soon but Mithali Raj took the control and almost finished the game before falling to medium-pacer Selman. Veda remained not out on 8 as India won the match and the series.
Result: India Won by 5 Wickets
4) India Women vs West Indies Women 3rd ODI – 2016, Vijaywada
The 3rd and final ODI of the series was a dead rubber. West Indies won the toss and elected to field. Putting India into bat, West Indies reaped rewards immediately as Smriti Mandhana was dismissed by Dottin off the last ball of the 2nd over. Mithali Raj came up the order at 1 down but the move didn’t pay off well as she was out for 15 runs. Deepti Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur too couldn’t contribute more. The star performer of the innings was Veda Krishnamurthy. Veda scored a sumptuous 71 off just 79 balls. It was a counter-attacking innings which eventually made the difference between the 2 sides. She was well supported by Devika Vaidya who scored an unbeaten 32. Jhulan too gave a finishing touch and India finished their 50 overs with 199/6.
The chase was started well by the Windies openers who scored their highest partnership of the series. But their joy was short-lived as Quintyne was dismissed by Deepti Sharma for 18. Soon Matthews perished and the old story repeated. Knight top-scored with 55 but lack of support by other players couldn’t take Windies home. Wickets fell at regular intervals and the Carribeans were bowled out for 184. India won the match by 15 runs and whitewashed the West Indies 3-0.
Result: India Won by 15 Runs
5) India Women vs West Indies Women – ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, Taunton
It was the 7th match of the ICC Women’s World Cup 2017 and everything was set for the big stage. It can’t get bigger than the World Cup. Indian skipper won the toss and chose to bowl first. West Indies had a new opening combination with Felicia Walters replacing Quintyne. Unfortunately, Walters didn’t make it count and was dismissed for just 9 by the Indian spinner Bisht. West Indies captain, Taylor came in at No. 3 but never looked set and eventually got out on 16. Matthews, on the other hand, played a fighting knock of 43, the highest score of the innings. The middle-order collapsed, but the tail wagging a bit made sure West Indies crossed 150. Shanel Daley and Afy Fletcher made useful lower-order contribution and West Indies scored 183 off their 50 overs quota.
The Indian chase too started with a disaster with Poonam Raut getting a duck, thus India losing a wicket in the very first over of the chase. Deepti Sharma too didn’t contribute much and Indians were under pressure at 33-2. But cometh the hour, cometh the champion, as they say, was truly justified that day. Smriti Mandhana played the innings of her life with an unbeaten 106 almost at a strike rate of 100. Such sumptuous stroke play and sedate approach is what this inning was made off. She found the support of the skipper who managed a useful 46 and Meshram also played her part with playing the second fiddle to Mandhana towards the end.
India won the match with almost 8 overs remaining and with no surprise Mandhana was the Player of the Match.
Result: India Won by 7 Wickets
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