New Delhi: Smriti Mandhana and Renuka Singh Thakur starred in India’s crushing 211-run win over West Indies in the first women’s One-Day International at the newly constructed Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara on Sunday. This was India’s second biggest win by runs in ODIs, behind the 249-run win over Ireland in 2017.
Mandhana extended her rich vein of form, the opener registering her fourth consecutive half-century as India posted a commanding 314/9.
Building upon her stellar performances in the T20Is where she struck three successive fifties and amassed 193 runs in India’s 2-1 series victory, Mandhana dazzled with a 102-ball 91 laced with 13 boundaries. She forged a 110-run opening stand with debutant Pratika Rawal (40), but fell short of a century after being trapped leg before by left-arm spinner Zaida James trying to play a paddle shot.
While Rawal had some teething trouble on her ODI debut, she eventually impressed with a composed 40 off 69 balls, setting the tone for India’s huge total.
Harleen Deol (44) and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (34) — she returned to the side after sitting out the last two T20Is due to injury – added 66 runs together. Jemimah Rodrigues, who is also in good touch, capped the innings with a brisk 31 and with Richa Ghosh (26) led India’s assault towards the end of the innings.
The 20-year-old Zaida James stood out with figures of 5/45, but her efforts couldn’t prevent India from setting a formidable target.
“The way Smriti is batting, that’s something outstanding,” said Kaur. “Renuka’s bowling has been amazing for so many years and today was special. We’ve been speaking about fielding as well, the way we’ve done in the last series and today has been great.”
West Indies struggled in the field with dropped catches and numerous misfields. They also gave away 25 extras, highlighting another area that needs improvement for the visitors.
The Indian bowlers, led by Thakur’s first five-wicket haul (5/29), followed it up with an all-round show as West Indies were bundled out for 103 in 26.2 overs.
The West Indies batters felt the pressure early on as they were reduced to 26/5 in 11 overs after Qiana Joseph was run out off the very first ball. Like Joseph, captain Hayley Matthews too departed for nought and the seasoned Deandra Dottin (8) followed suit. Seasmer Titas Sadhu rattled Rashada Williams’ stumps with a good length ball pitching outside off.
Kaur then took a stunning one-handed catch to dismiss Aaliyah Alleyne (13) at mid-on, leaping high to grab the chance. With half the line-up back in the hut, Shermaine Campbell was the only Windies batter who put up a fight, scoring 21 despite taking a painful blow on the chest after the ball deflected off her bat.
With the target out of reach, all the other batters fell without making any meaningful impact. Afy Fletcher frustrated the Indians as she combined with the tail and top-scored with an unbeaten 24 but it was too little, too late. Shamilia Connell (8) was the last wicket to fall.
“We did some spot bowling yesterday because it is important for ODIs,” said Player-of-the-Match Thakur. “We concentrated on single-wicket balls, I spoke to Jhulan Goswami as well and she helped me with it.”
Last week, India notched up their first home T20I series win in over five years. Although India were clean swept by Australia in the away ODIs, India headed into this series with the advantage of the T20I series win along with a 4-1 head-to-head lead over the Windies in the 50-over format.
Brief scores: India 314/9 (S Mandhana 91, H Deol 44, Z James 5/45, H Matthews 2/61); West Indies 103 in 26.2 overs (A Fletcher 24*, S Campbell 21, R Thakur 5/29, P Mishra 2/22). India won by 211 runs.
