Indian women crush West Indies by 53 runs to level the series

After a narrow loss in the first ODI, the Indian women’s team produced a resounding win in the second ODI of the ICC Women’s Championship played at Sir Vivan Richards Stadium, Antigua on Sunday. 

Indian captain, Mithali Raj won the toss and decided to bat first. It was not an ideal start for the visitors as they lost 2 early wickets of Jemimah Rodrigues and Priya Punia. Punam Raut and Indian captain steadied the innings with a positive stroke play putting pressure on West Indies bowlers. 

As things looked bright for India, Raj was dismissed after scoring 40 runs. The Indian captain and Raut added 66 runs for the 3rd wicket. Harmanpreet Kaur came to the crease and made the batting look easy along with Raut. 

Raut continued to play an important role and made sure that both took India to a comfortable position before, Kaur was dismissed by Aaliyah for well made 46. Raut played a valuable knock of 77 off 128 balls, which helped India post 191 for 6 in 50 overs. 

Chasing 192 runs to win, West Indies lost an early wicket of Stacy- Ann King by a beautiful delivery off Shikha Pandey. After a poor start, Stephanie Taylor and Shemaine Campbell steadied the innings for West Indies taking singles and hitting occasional boundaries. Poonam Yadav got big breakthrough for India as she dismissed the dangerous Stephine Taylor for 39 runs. Taylor and Campbell added 68 runs for the second wicket. 

Following this the Indian spinners wreaked havoc troubling the Windies' players and took wickets in quick succession, which made hosts innings facing an uphill task. Natasha McLean got retired hurt and the Indian women bowled out West Indies for 138 for 9 in 47.2 overs. Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma took 2 wickets each. 

Indian women 191 for 6 in 50 overs ( Punam Raut 77, Harmanpreet Kaur 46, Afy Flecther 2/32) beat West Indies women 138 for 9 in 47.2 overs ( Shemaine Campbell 39, Stephine Taylor 20, Poonam Yadav 2/26) by 53 runs. 

The series is now levelled at 1-1 and India earned 2 important points in the ICC Women’s World Championship. The third and final ODI will be played on 6th November in the series decider at the same ground. 

Cover Image Credits: Hindustan Times