India will travel to the 2022 ICC Women’s World Cup with great confidence after winning their two warm-up games in New Zealand. On Tuesday, India outclassed the West Indies by 81 runs at the Rangiora Oval in New Zealand.
With a Quickfire 67 from opener Smriti Mandhana and a Fifty from Deepti Sharma batting in 3rd place, India finished 258th in their 50-over odds. They restricted the West Indies to 177/9 in 50 overs, with their spinners again getting the job done on their tour of New Zealand.
India will face Pakistan on Sunday in the opener of the Women’s World Cup on a three-game winning streak. India defeated New Zealand in the final ODI of their 5-match streak before edging out South Africa in a thrilling warm-up earlier this week.
The elegant Mandhana, who was kept under observation after being hit to the head during the team’s first training game against South Africa on Sunday, was in her element within two days of the injury and laid the groundwork for India’s challenging total of 258 in the allocated field 50 overs.
DEEPTI, SMRITI SHINE
2017 edition finalists India opted for batting and got off to a bad start when Shafali Verma was bowled for a duck by Chinelle Henry.
Deepti Sharma joined Mandhana in the middle and the two set about rebuilding the innings with a partnership that broke after the two veteran contenders added 117 runs for the second wicket while maintaining a batting average of nearly six.
The in-from-mandhana put together her 66 runs in 67 balls, hitting seven fours in the process, before being released from her own bowling by Cherry-Ann Fraser.
Mandhana’s magnificent performance came barely two days after she was diagnosed with a minor soft-tissue injury to her left earlobe, which caused discomfort while batting against the South Africans and forced her to retire injured.
Deepti made 51 balls from 64 and accumulated most of her runs in singles and twos games. She only encountered a limit during her stay in the middle.
When Deepti was sent back by Fraser, India 142 was over for three in the 27th.
Skipper Mithali Raj contributed 30 of 42 balls with the help of four boundaries while Yastika Bhatia contributed a useful 42 of 53 deliveries. Bhatia found the fence five times.
The West Indies innings got off to a disastrous start as they lost four wickets with just 53 runs on the board, including captain Stefanie Taylor for just 8 runs.
Wicketkeeper Shemaine Campbelle had the highest score for the Windies with 63 balls from 81, while Hayley Matthews had 44 balls from 61 deliveries.
The others, however, made no significant contributions as the West Indies lagged by a wide margin.
Pooja Vastrakar was the most successful Indian bowler, returning numbers of 3/21 in seven overs, while Meghna Singh and Deepti both took two wickets each, ending the game on good all-around shows.
Veteran Jhulan Goswami (0/14 in 8 overs) also rolled exceptionally well despite failing to appear in the wicket column.
IND W vs. WI W World Cup Warm-Up Short Scores
Indian Women: 258 in 50 overs (Smriti Mandhana 66, Deepti Sharma 51) beating West Indian Women: 177/9 in 50 overs (Shemaine Campbelle 63, Hayley Matthews 44; Pooja Vastrakar 3/21).
