India-West Indies Women’s ODI Series: Building momentum

Coming off one of their biggest wins in terms of runs, India will look to guard against complacency when they take on West Indies with an aim to bag the three-match series in the second Women’s ODI here on Tuesday.

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India will be entering the game on the back of a massive 211-run victory over the visitors in the series opener in which the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team ticked almost all the boxes.

Every match the teams play in the coming months will be significant as the ICC World Cup is scheduled to be held in the country next year.

India, who have never won a women’s World Cup, are desperate to end their ICC title drought at home and they are aware that a strong build-up is extremely important for them to head into the mega event as one of the contenders alongside the ‘usual suspects’ Australia and England.

Though India have not begun their preparations for the big tournament in earnest, having suffered a 0-3 whitewash in Australia, they bounced back in style, albeit against a much weaker opposition in West Indies.

In between the ongoing ODI series and the one against Australia, India registered a 2-1 victory in a T20I rubber against the team from the Caribbean islands, which was their first home series win in the shortest format in over five years. But their failure to qualify for the semifinals of the last T20 World Cup has left a lot to be desired.

The team has been on an experimentation spree since the debacle in the UAE and has handed international debuts to as many as seven players, including Titas Sadhu, Priya Mishra and Pratika Rawal.

Playing in her first ever international match, Delhi’s Pratika impressed with a 40-run knock off 69 balls during a century-plus opening partnership with vice-captain Smriti Mandhana.

The lone worry for India before the series opener was the fitness of Harmanpreet, who missed the last two T20Is against West Indies with a knee issue. But with her clean hitting and running between the wickets in the first ODI, the skipper has laid all concerns to rest.

Mandhana, who led India in Harmanpreet’s absence and struck three fifties in a row in the T20Is, was again in her element in the first ODI and made a classy 91 off 102 balls while laying the foundation for an imposing total.

The left-handed opener will be keen to continue in the same vein in the remaining One-dayers as well.

Renuka Singh, the player of the match in the first ODI, will be high on confidence having returned a five-wicket haul and she will once again look to inflict maximum damage on the Windies with the new ball.

As far as West Indies are concerned, they will have to lift their game several notches and the likes of Hayley Matthews, Deandra Dottin, Shemaine Campbelle and Afy Fletcher, the squad’s senior players with years of experience, will need to lead from the front.

Shafali makes 197 to continue knocking on India’s door

Shafali Verma shot out another reminder to the national selectors as she smashed 197 runs off just 115 balls for Haryana in the quarterfinals of the senior women’s One-day tournament in Rajkot.

The captain’s knock, which included 22 fours and 11 sixes, helped Haryana to 389/5 against Bengal. However, Bengal pulled off a stunning chase, which is the highest successful chase in women’s List A cricket, with five balls to spare.

It was Shafali’s second hundred in the competition, having earlier scored a 98-ball 139 against Uttar Pradesh. In seven innings, Shafali scored 527 runs at an average of 75.28 and a strike rate of 152.31.

Shafali is trying to find her way back into the India team, having been left out of the white-ball squads. After scoring just 108 runs in six ODIs at an average of 18 this year, she was dropped for the ODI series in Australia. She was also left out of the T20I and ODI squads for the home series against West Indies. TNS