Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up: India ride all-round bowling display to beat West Indies by 20 runs
Jemimah Rodrigues scored a half-century for India under pressure while Pooja Vastrakar was the pick of the bowlers with 3/20.
Cricket
The Indian women’s cricket team picked up momentum ahead of the upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 with a 20-run win over the West Indies in its first warm-up match at the Dubai International Stadium in UAE on Sunday.
Jemimah Rodrigues’ half-century under pressure helped India, third in the ICC Women’s T20I rankings, post 141/8 batting first before a disciplined bowling performance, spearheaded by Pooja Vastrakar, restricted the Windies to 121/8.
Sent in to bat first after West Indies captain Hayley Matthews won the toss, India looked comfortable at 16/0 after Smriti Mandhana hit Zaida James for consecutive boundaries in the second over.
However, the positive start began to unravel in the third over with Chinelle Henry forcing Shafali Verma (7) to nick one to wicketkeeper Shemaine Campbelle in the third over.
Indian T20 captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s stay out in the middle was shortlived as she fell to Matthews in the next over after adding just one run to the board. The West Indian skipper struck again in the sixth over, this time sending Mandhana (14) back.
Reeling at 23/3 after the triple blow, India looked to rebuild through Jemimah Rodrigues and Yastika Bhatia. Both batted sensibly and kept the scoreboard ticking to put on a 50-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Matthews struck again with her third over of the match to break the partnership and sent Bhatia (24) back to the pavilion. Rodrigues (52), meanwhile, kept at it and reached her half-century before she was run out.
Deepti Sharma’s handy 13 off eight balls towards the end saw India’s innings end on 141/8 in 20 overs. Matthews finished with incredible figures of 4/17 in her allotted four overs.
Defending a low score, the Indian pacers started with purpose. Pooja Vastrakar struck in the second ball in each of her first two overs, picking up Qiana Joseph and Chedean Nation, respectively.
In between the two wickets, Renuka Singh picked one of her own, castling Matthews for a duck.
Struggling at 13/3, the Windies found some solidity with Shemaine Campbelle and Chinelle Henry joining forces out in the middle.
The duo threatened to mount a rescue act and took world No. 6 West Indies, the 2016 Women’s T20 World Cup champions, to 70/3 before Asha Sobhana broke the partnership by disturbing Cambell’s stumps.
Henry scored an unbeaten 59 off 48 deliveries but Indian bowlers kept picking up wickets from the other end to keep the Windies chase in check. Deepti Sharma picked up two while Vastrakar added one more to her tally to finish with 3/20.
Radha Yadav also scalped one as India restricted the Caribbeans to 120/8 in 20 overs and won by 20 runs.
The Indian women’s cricket team will face last year’s runner-ups South Africa in its second warm-up against at the same venue on Tuesday before kicking off the World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Group A on Friday.
IND-W vs WI-W Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up brief scores: India 141/8 in 20 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 52; Hayley Matthews 4/17) beat West Indies 121/8 in 20 overs (Chinelle Henry 59*; Pooja Vastrakar 3/20).