Mandhana sizzles as India beats West Indies

Chasing a target of 184 for win, the Indian women lost two early wickets that of Poonam Raut and Deepti Sharma in the first eight overs but captain Mithali Raj played a patient innings of 46 adding 108 runs for the third wicket in 26 overs with Mandhana to steer the team to a comfortable win. 

Mandhana, who had scored a 90 in the first match against England, hit two sixes and 13 fours in her century as India won with 45 balls to spare. 

Earlier, India’s spin troika of spinners Poonam Yadav and Deepti Sharma, and off-spinner Harmanpreet Kaur restricted the West Indies to a lowly 183 for 8. Mithali Raj opted to field and West Indies were comfortably placed at 69 for one in the 19th over before things fell apart and the current World T20 champions were tottering at 91 for 6. 

Deepti (2/27 in 10 overs), Poonam (2/19 in 10 overs) and Harmanpreet (2/42 in 10 overs) shared bulk of the spoils with opener Hayley Mathews being the top-scorer with 43. Shanel Daley (33) and Afy Fletcher (36) showed some defiance down the order taking the score to plus 180, which at one point in time was looking improbable.

Apart from the trio, the other impressive performer was another left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht (1/23 in 10 overs). The normally economical Jhulan Goswami (0/37 in 6 overs) went for runs as Mathews hit seven boundaries during her 57- ball knock. If West Indies managed to cross 180, it was due to Fletcher and her 37-run stand with Anisa Mohammed (11). 

Brief scores: West Indies 183/8 (Hayley Matthews 43, Afy Fletcher 36*, Poonam Yadav 2/19, Deepti Sharma 2/27) lost to Indian 186/3 in 42.3 overs (Smriti Mandhana 106*, Mithali Raj 46)