Having won the first T20I comfortably on Sunday, India Women and Smriti Mandhana faced the wrath of the West Indies Women in the second T20I on Tuesday.
The Windies secured a nine-wicket win chasing 160 and achieved it with 28 deliveries to spare to level the series with one to go on Thursday.
Mandhana admitted to not bowling according to plans, “I felt that the execution as a team, as a bowling unit, could have been better. We just put our hands up and take it [the defeat]. We tried everything to stop them but Hayley is definitely a quality player. As a bowling unit, our execution could have been better and the only way we could have got them out was by applying pressure by bowling dot balls. We couldn’t do that and the pressure was never there. We did give a lot of width. We’ll work on things that we could not do right and come back stronger in the final game.”
WI’s Hayley Matthews during her 85 not out against India in Navi Mumbai on Tuesday. Pic/PTI
The Windies captain Hayley Matthews and her opening partner, Qiana Joseph shared 66 in just 6.4 overs to set up the win. Joseph hammered her way to 38, 36 of them coming in fours and sixes.
Matthews herself finished with her fourth highest T20I score, 85 not out, 80 per cent of it coming in fours. Matthews was elated with her own performance as well as her team’s brilliant turnaround in the space of two evenings.
Matthews said: “We knew we weren’t up to scratch in the first game. It was something we wanted to turn around [on Tuesday]. Just trying to be in the game really early and Deandra [Dottin] and Chinelle [Henry] with the new ball set the tone and we just tried to take that momentum right through the game.”
The victory on Tuesday was actually set up by Joseph, who swung her bat at almost everything the Indians bowled. She did it on Sunday en route to a 33-ball 49 before Tuesday’s explosion. Matthews said of Joseph: “She’s someone who has come about into her role over the last few months. We saw her opening in the World Cup and made her first fifty there. She’s shining even more in India. She’s making massive contributions and has a clear role, which is to go out and be aggressive and fearless.”
