India Women completed a whitewash against West Indies Women in the five-match T20I series and how! They completely dominated the hosts to record a convincing win in the series finale.
India Women took to the field with 4-0 lead to their name. The aim was obviously to win the match to register a clean sweep. On the other hand, for the hosts, it was the last chance to show some resistance and manage at least one win.
India Women started by losing the openers in quick successions at the early stage of their innings. Thankfully Jemimah Rodrigues and Veda Krishnamurthy built a partnership and did not allow any further downfall. Both in the process registered their individual half-centuries and took India to 134/3 from 17/2. After Jemimah’s dismissal in the last over India could not add any further run and they eventually set a target of 135 for the Windies Women. Jemimah took 56 balls to score her 50 before getting out whereas Veda remained not out with 57 off 48. Shafali Verma the new sensation of the women in blue hit the only six of Indian innings before being dismissed for just nine runs in the last fixture of the series.
West Indies started off pretty well as the initial blows Hayley Matthews and the skipper Anisha Mohammad were on point. India lost two big wickets at the beginning with just 17 runs on board. Moreover, two wickets fell on the same score and it was a good opportunity for the hosts to take control of the game. But the middle order of Indian lineup destroyed the plans.
Chasing a target of 135, the Windies team faced another collapse. Kyshona Knight (22) and Shemaine Altia Campbelle (19*) somehow managed to reach double-digit numbers. They started by losing two early wickets and Natasha McLean (9) and Chedean Nation (0) were departed cheaply by Anuja Patil in the fourth over. Knight was there to put resistance and with Chinelle Henry added a brief stand of 15 runs. But Henry was soon picked by Poonam Yadav in the 10th over, reducing West Indies to 28/3. Hayley Matthews (2) followed them soon, thanks to Pooja Vastrkar.
By then the picture was clear. There was hardly any hope left for West Indies with Knight being the only obstacle. She was soon sent back by Harleen Deol in the 14th over. Campbelle remained till the end fighting an uneven battle as her teammates struggled throughout. Eventually, they could score only 73/7 as India won the match by 61 runs.
Brief scores: India women 134 for 3 (Krishnamurthy 57*, Rodrigues 50) beat West Indies women 73 for 7 (Knight 22, Patil 2-3) by 61 runs