Smriti Mandhana helps India beat West Indies by 6 wickets in third ODI to seal series 2-1

Smriti Mandhana helps India beat West Indies by 6 wickets in third ODI to seal series 2-1. (Photo: Twitter/@BCCIWomen)


Riding on the half-centuries from openers Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues India women eased past West Indies by 6 wickets in the third and final ODI to seal the series 2-1.

Smriti was declared the Player of the Match, whereas West Indies skipper Stafanie Taylor was declared the Player of the Series.

Smriti Mandhana (L). (Photo: Twitter/@BCCIWomen)

On Wednesday evening, the Mandhana-Rodrigues duo added 141 runs for the opening wicket where the southpaw scored 74 and the right-handed youngster made 69 runs to chase down the 195-run target with 47 balls to spare at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

Earlier, West Indies women had a poor start after electing to bat as the opening batters found it difficult to get the scoring started. No runs were scored in the first two overs as Jhulan Goswami and Shikha Pandey had Hayley Matthews and Natasha McLean pegged back with pace.

Natasha was the first to go, trying to play across the line and the ball popped up from the edge of the bat for an easy catch. Hayley playing in her first game this series, eventually took a liking to the pace from Goswami and Pandey, belting them for three fours and a six on her way to 26. However, she got run-out slowed down the pace of the Windies innings and they were reduced to 50 for 4 inside 20 overs.

Chedean Nation’s stay in the middle did not last long as she fell for 6. Kyshona Knight and skipper Stafanie Taylor looked set to rebuild the shaking innings, as they converted their chances for quick singles. After building a steady partnership of 34 runs, Kyshona got out after scoring 16 runs.

Stacy-Ann King and Stafanie added 96 runs to a defendable total. Stafanie was caught and bowled by Poonam Yadav for 79, whereas Stacy-Ann soldiered on to 38 before she was bowled by Goswami. The rest of the West Indies batters fell for single digits as they finished their allotted quota of 50 overs on 194 all out.

India cruised to the target confidently with Mandhana playing for the first time in the series. Together with Rodrigues, she tore apart the West Indies bowlers to make the match a cakewalk for India.

The two teams meet next for a five-match T20I series, with the first two being played at the Daren Sammy Stadium on November 9 and 10 and the rest three at Providence Stadium in Guyana on November 14, 17 and 20.

Brief scores: India women 195 for 4 (Smriti Mandhana 74, Jemimah Rodgrigues 69; Hayley Matthews 3 for 27) beat West Indies women 194 all out (Stafanie Taylor 79, Stacy-Ann King 38; Jhulan Goswami 2/30