They already had claimed the 5-match series with three consecutive wins against West Indies Women. But the way Indians fought till the end in the fourth T20I was incredible.
The rain-curtailed match saw Indians getting reduced to 50/7 in a nine-over-a-side affair. It was an absolute collapse in the Indian batting order as only Pooja Vastrakar (10) could make to a double-digit score. Asking to bat first Indians started to lose wickets from first over- Shafali Verma, the new sensation was the first one to go followed by Jemimah Rodrigues (6) and Veda Krishnamurthy (5) in the third over. Hayley Mathews (3/13) took three wickets for the hosts, while Afy Fletcher (2/2) and Sheneta Grimmond (2/10) picked up two wickets apiece.
The target was very easy to chase down. West Indies Women were all set to finally secure a game. But what happened next was a sheer showcase of class and talent. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur showed complete faith on the spinners and got the reward!
West Indies had a much better start than the tourists. They did not lose any wicket in the first two overs and Deepti Sharma gave the first blow in the 5th delivery of the third over. Indians kept taking wickets at regular intervals and eventually, The Windies lost five wickets in their allotted over and failed to reach the target. Hayley Mathews (11) and Chinelle Henry (11) ended as the top scorers for the home team.
Anuja Patil (2/8), Deepti Sharma (1/8) and Radha Yadav (1/8) kept the Windies on a tight leash throughout. The hosts needed 20 from two overs and Radha immediately reduced it to 20 of 11. The last over saw Anuja delivering a calculative over to defend 13 runs in six balls. She ended picking up two wickets and conceding only seven runs. Indians eventually won the match by five runs.
Brief scores: India women 50 for 7 (Vastrakar 10, Matthews 3-13, Fletcher 2-2, Grimmond 2-10) beat West Indies women 45 for 5 (Matthews 11, Henry 11, Patil 2-8) by five runs