It was the 17th boundary of the night and a fitting way to get his side over the finish line when Hayley Mathews hit a sweet punch on the back foot from the offside in the 16th over of the West Indies’ run chase. The Windies captain scored 85 runs in 47 balls and scored 80 percent of the runs in 4 seconds. Chasing a target of 160 for victory, Mathews took the lead as West Indies finished with 9 wickets and 26 balls to spare.
“She always wants to be a girl under pressure. I think that’s when she’s at her best,” new West Indies coach Shane Dietz said during the T20 World Cup where he led the team to the semi-finals.
And she took it upon herself to lead her team back into the series in some style.
Standing in for Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana lost the toss and West Indies made the most of the early moisture on the pitch to limit India’s batting charge. Getting Diandra Dottin to bowl in the Powerplay proved to be a masterstroke as she bowled 2 overs in the first six, conceding 7 runs and taking the wicket of Uma Chhetri in the first over. India managed just 35/2 in the powerplay and lost the wicket of the in-form Jemimah Rodrigues. India scored 100 runs in the last 10 overs and that was only a sign of what was to come in the second half.
Kiana Joseph and Mathews, who hit big in the powerplay, broke the run chase and added 62 runs in 2 overs 6 to 6 hitting 11 fours and 2 sixes. India’s bowlers were oblivious in the powerplay. Titas Sadhu struggled with her radar, conceding 18 runs in the second over. Renuka Singh Thakur and Deepti Sharma’s two overs went for 18 and 21 runs as the left-handed Joseph was aggressive in clearing his front foot and peppering the boundary lines.
Mathews didn’t take his foot off the pedal even when Joseph fell, explaining why he is the world’s best square on the wicket: 11 of his 17 fours came at point and cover offside (5), and midwicket at square leg and leg side (6). It also indicated India’s problems in holding a steady line and length, as they leaked boundaries at both ends of the pitch.
Mandhana steps up
With the bat, it’s Mandhana stepping up once again as he scores back-to-back fifties in this series. She was lucky as the Windies dropped a few catches on the night but her 62 off 41 balls provided the platform for Richa Ghosh to come in at the back end and later with some hard hitting to help her team to 159/9. But in the 19th over, Duttin’s brilliant day on the field came to an end when she caught Richa behind with a good yorker. The star all-rounder, who returned from retirement ahead of this year’s World Cup, had earlier pulled off a brilliant save to prevent a six at long-on and later took a thrilling diving catch while running at long-on. She bowled 14 dot balls in her spell of 2/14 and India could not put her under any pressure.
“After the 7th-8th over of the first innings, the situation changed drastically and then I think they batted well,” Mandhana said after the match. “There was a bit of dampness on the wicket, and the way we could bat in the first half of the previous game, the same shots were not coming today. With force the execution of our plans can be better. The dew was not there in the first 10 overs of their fielding and suddenly there was more. But we can’t complain about it, we know it will be a factor, we have to put our hands up and know where to force in such a situation.
Brief scores: India 159/9 (Mandhana 62, Ghosh 32, Duttin 2/14) def WI 160/1 (Matthews 85*, Joseph 38, Thakor 1/28)
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