On fire: Matthews’ unbeaten 85 made it a stroll in the park for the West Indies.
| Photo Credit: EMMANUAL YOGINI
It’s not for nothing that Hayley Matthews is rated so high. The West Indies captain led from the front (85 n.o., 47b, 17×4) as the team cruised to a nine-wicket win against India and drew level in the three-match T20I series at the DY Patil Stadium on Tuesday.
Moving on from the defeat in the series opener, the West Indies batters put up a spirited show and chased down India’s tricky total of 159 for nine without much sweat.
With the dew settling in, the Indian bowlers struggled to find breakthroughs. Making the most of the reprieves, Matthews and Qiana Joseph forged an opening stand of 66 to set the tone.
With Harmanpreet Kaur missing out due to a dodgy knee, stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana explored every possible bowling option, but nothing clicked as Matthews looked at ease en route her 15th fifty in T20Is.
She played second fiddle when Joseph went on the rampage, hammering three fours and a six in Titas Sadhu’s opening over.
Switching gears
Matthews flexed her muscles soon, tearing apart Renuka Singh and taking the team to 65 in the PowerPlay.
Even though Saima Thakor claimed her maiden wicket in T20Is by sending back Joseph shortly after the PowerPlay, Matthews forged an unbeaten 94-run partnership with Shemaine Campbelle (29 n.o., 26b, 4×4).
West Indies again opted to field. And the move paid off this time as it managed to reduce the hosts to 48 for three by the ninth over.
Even though Smriti cashed in on the three dropped catches to score 62 off 41 deliveries, the other top-order batters let India down. Uma Chetry, Jemimah Rodrigues and debutant Raghvi Bist failed to get going.
Even the move to elevate Deepti Sharma did not work. However, as West Indies slipped up with some sloppy fielding, Richa Ghosh’s 17-ball-32 took the team close to the 160-mark but that proved inadequate once Matthews took strike.
The scores: India 159/9 in 20 overs (Smriti 62, Richa 32; Henry 2/37, Dottin 2/14, Matthews 2/36) lost to West Indies 160/1 in 15.4 overs (Matthews 85 n.o., Joseph 38).
Toss: WI; PoM: Matthews.
Published – December 18, 2024 12:17 am IST
