The Shafali Show

Gros Islet (St Lucia), Nov 11 

Teenager Shafali Verma scored her second consecutive half-century after off-spinner Deepti Sharma starred with the ball as the Indian women’s cricket team registered an emphatic 10-wicket win over West Indies in the second T20 International here.

The 15-year-old Shafali continued her impressive run by scoring a quick-fire 69 off 35 balls alongside Smriti Mandhana (30). The duo powered India to a 2-0 lead in the five-match series on Sunday.

Shafali, who became the youngest Indian cricketer to score a half-century in international cricket on Saturday, displayed scintillating form yet again and smashed 10 fours and two sixes.

Earlier, Deepti registered career-best figures of 4/10 as the Indian bowlers managed to restrict West Indies to a paltry 103/7 in the stipulated 20 overs.

Opting to bat, West Indies’ openers struggled to get going. Pacer Shikha Pandey drew first blood for India when she dismissed Stacy-Ann King (7) in the fourth over. Wicketkeeper Shemaine Campbelle soon followed after Radha Yadav (1/20) had her stumped for a duck. Opener Hayley Mathews (23) and Chedean Nations (32) tried to resurrect the West Indies innings but could only manage a 32-run stand as pacer Pooja Vastrakar(1/23) dimissed the former.

However, West Indies were unable to get any kind of momentum going as wickets kept tumbling. Deepti accounted for the four wickets in the last four overs.

Later Mandhana, who had also smashed a half-century in the series opener, played second fiddle to Shafali in guiding the team home. The 23-year-old’s innings was laced with four boundaries. West Indies captain Anisa Mohammed had no answer to the Indian duo and used seven bowlers, including herself, with no success.

The third T20I will be played in Guyana on November 14. — PTI

Brief scores: West Indies: 103/7 in 20 overs (Chedean Nation 32, Hayley Matthews 23; Deepti Sharma 4/10); India: 104/0 in 10.3 overs (Shafali Verma 69*, Smriti Mandhana 30*)