Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana and Titas Sadhu stars in India’s T20I series opener win over West Indies

The Indian women’s team, led by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, freshly wounded from a heart-wreaking whitewash in the ODI series down under, awaited a fresh start as they return to their shores to host the West Indies led by skipper Hayley Matthews for a three-match T20I series followed by a three-match ODI series from 15th to 27th December 2024.

Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana and Titas Sadhu stars in India's T20I series opener win over West Indies
Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana and Titas Sadhu stars in India’s T20I series opener win over West Indies

The three-match T20I series will be played at the DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai, and the three-match ODI series will be played at the Reliance Stadium in Vadodara.

Counterattacking fifties from Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues powers India to a massive total

The visiting skipper Hayley Matthews won the toss and opted to field first. The Indian openers, Smriti Mandhana accompanied by her new batting partner Uma Chetry got their side off to a positive start with a brisk 50-run opening partnership. A promising stay at the crease for Uma Chetry (24 off 26 balls) was ended by Karishma Ramharack just outside the powerplay.

Jemimah Rodrigues joined Smriti Mandhana at the crease and the pair continued to counterattack with the Indian vice-captain slightly taking a back seat, enjoying a special show from the other end. The duo took the home side past the 130-run mark hovering around a rate of over 9 runs an over. Karishma Ramharack returned and got the crucial wicket of Smriti Mandhana (54 off 33 balls) in the 14th over of the innings to provide the 2nd breakthrough for the West Indies.

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India eventually ended up with a mammoth total of 195/4 in the quota of 20 overs as Jemimah Rodrigues (73 off 35 balls) continued to attack after the departure of Smriti Mandhana before a run-out ended her blazing innings. Wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh (20 off 14 balls) played her part in inflicting the damage. Karishma Ramharack (4-0-18-2), and Deandra Dottin (4-0-37-1) stood out with the ball in hand for the West Indies.

India survived a scary retaliating response from Qiana Joseph and Deandra Dottin for the win

The visitors were pushed on the back foot early on by Titas Sadhu removing the West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews in the 2nd over of the run chase. Decent partnerships from wicket-keeper batter Shemaine Campbelle and Qiana Joseph worth 34 for the 2nd wicket followed by a 44-run stand between Deandra Dottin and Qiana Joseph (49 off 33 balls) for the 3rd wicket kept them in the hunt in the run chase. Qiana Joseph missed out on her well-deserved half-century by one run.

Deandra Dottin eventually ran out of luck as Titas Sadhu sent her back to the pavilion courtesy of a clean take from Radha Yadav in the deep. She completed her well-deserved half-century (52 off 28 balls) before getting dismissed. The breakthrough put the final nail in the hopes of chasing down the total for the West Indies. The visitors eventually fell short of the target by 49 runs, as they were restricted to 146/7 in their quota of overs.

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Deepti Sharma (4-0-21-2), Titas Sadhu (4-0-37-3), Radha Yadav (4-0-28-2), and Renuka Singh (4-0-25-0) were the top performers with the ball for India.

Jemimah Rodrigues was awarded the Player of the Match for her match-winning half-century (73 off 35 balls), setting a platform for a comprehensive victory to give India a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series.

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