India go into ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 with 100% win record in warm-up games. They play Pakistan in campaign opener on March 6.
Two days after Smriti Mandhana was hit on the head by a Shabnim Ismail bouncer, the India opener produced a 67-ball 66 to lead her team to an 81-run win against West Indies in the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 warm-up encounter on Tuesday. (More Cricket News)
India will thus enter the ICC Women’s World Cup 2022 with their tails up having won both their warm-up games. India, who are coming after a 4-1 thrashing against New Zealand in ODI, had defeated South Africa by 2 runs. (ICC Women's World Cup 2022 Details)
Mandhana suffered an injury scare when she missed a short-pitched delivery from South African pacer Shabnim Ismail while trying to pull and was hit on the head in their warm-up tie on Sunday. Team doctors declared Mandhana fit to continue her innings but the southpaw retired hurt as a precautionary measure.
Kept under observation, the elegant Mandhana was in her element within two days from the injury, laying the foundation for India's challenging total of 258 all out in the allotted 50 overs. In reply, West Indies were stopped at 177 for nine at Rangiora Oval.
Opting to bat first, India suffered a major blow when Shafali Verma was clean bowled by Chinelle Henry in the fourth ball of the innings. Deepti Sharma joined Mandhana in the middle and the two went about rebuilding the innings with a partnership of 117 runs for the second wicket while maintaining a scoring rate of almost six.
The in-from Mandhana hit seven fours in the process before being dismissed by Cherry-Ann Fraser off her own bowling. Deepti made 51 off 64 balls, accumulating most of her runs in singles and two. She hit just one boundary during her stay in the middle.
When Deepti was sent back by Fraser, India were 142 for three in the 27th over. Skipper Mithali Raj contributed 30 off 42 balls with the help of four boundaries, while Yastika Bhatia chipped in with a useful 42 in 53 deliveries. Bhatia found the fence five times.
West Indies' innings got off to a disastrous start as they lost four wickets with only 53 runs on the board, including captain Stefanie Taylor for just eight. Wicketkeeper Shemaine Campbelle top-scored for the Windies with a 63 off 81 balls, while Hayley Matthews made 44 in 61 deliveries.
However, the others failed to make substantial contributions as the West Indies fell short by a big margin. Pooja Vastrakar was the most successful Indian bowler, returning figures of 3/21, Meghna Singh and Deepti took two wickets apiece.
The veteran Jhulan Goswami (0/14 in 8 overs), too, bowled exceptionally well, though she could not figure in the wicket's column. India, who will face arch-rivals Pakistan in their campaign opener on Sunday.
Brief scores: India Women 258 in 50 overs (Smriti Mandhana 66, Deepti Sharma 51) beat West Indies Women 177/9 in 50 overs (Shemaine Campbelle 63, Hayley Matthews 44; Pooja Vastrakar 3/21) by 81 runs.
With PTI inputs