Stylish opener Smriti Mandhana extended her purple patch with a classy 91 off 102 balls, propelling India to 314/9 in the first Women’s ODI against the West Indies in Vadodara Sunday. Mandhana, who recorded a 50-plus score for the fifth time in as many innings, got the bulk of the runs in her 110-run stand alongside debutant Pratika Rawal (40 off 69). The launch pad was provided by Mandhana for the middle-order to go big and that is what the likes of Harmanpreet Kaur (34 off 23), Harleen Deol (44 off 50), Richa Ghosh (26 off 12) and Jemimah Rodrigues (31 off 19) did to take India past 300.

After dropping hard-hitting Shafali Verma, India have tried multiple batters to open alonside Mandhana and on Sunday it was the turn of Delhi cricketer Pratika, who batted at a strike rate of 57.97.

The 24-year-old was also dropped at mid-off when she was batting on three in the 10th over. Her four boundaries came on the leg-side as she employed the sweep multiple times.

Mandhana, at the other end, entertained the crowd with her trademark shots including a cover drive and pull.

During the knock, Mandhana also became the first-ever woman player to score over 1600 runs in a calendar year.

Woman cricketers with most runs in a calendar year –

1. Smriti Mandhana (2024) – 1602

2. Laura Wolvaardt (2024) 1593

3. Nat Sciver-Brunt (2022) 1346

4. Smriti Mandhana (2018) 1291

5. Smriti Mandhana(2022) 1290

India changed gears after the arrival of fit-again skipper Harmanpreet who struck at close to 150 to give the innings a timely move on.

The momentum was carried by Richa and Rodrigues who has been in top form of late.

For the West Indies, the pick of the bowlers was left-arm spinner Zaida James who took five wickets for 45 runs in eight overs.

India could have got a lot more in the death overs but the last three overs only yielded 20 runs with James picking three wickets in the final over.

With Jay Shah, the Secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ruling out India hosting the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has emerged as a potential host for the tournament. At the same time, the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has asked for more time to save the tournament from being moved out of the country. In May this year, the ICC had unveiled the schedule of Women’s T20 World Cup to be hosted by Bangladesh from October 3-20, with warm-up matches scheduled to begin from September 27.

According to a report in Cricbuzz, the International Cricket Council (ICC) is believed to be looking at Dubai and Abu Dhabi as the options for hosting the tournament, though the BCB has sought more time. It added the ICC is expected to make a decision likely on August 20, when an online meeting of the directors is scheduled, though the agenda is different.

“A BCB official said on Thursday that it has requested the ICC for five more days before making a call. If the ICC grants the extra time, then it would have to decide on August 20, the day of the board meeting. It is understood that the ICC was originally expected to take the call on the Women’s World Cup by August 15,” said the report.

With Shah’s statement ruling out India as an alternative venue, the report also said BCB requesting for extra time is because they are confident of coming up with a plan that will meet the ICC’s requirements to host the tournament.

“The ICC is seeking a host country with a time zone similar to that of Bangladesh and clear weather conditions, and UAE fits that criteria well. Besides, the Emirates Cricket Board (ECB) boasts world-class infrastructure.

“And more importantly, the ECB is believed to be keen on hosting the event. It is understood that Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka are also interested. With just about 50 days remaining for the start of the tournament, time is running out,” added the report.

The report further said the agenda for the August 20 meeting by the ICC is believed to be finalizing the terms of reference for an inquiry into the delivery of the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup co-hosted by the USA and West Indies, from June 1-29.

At the ICC Annual Conference in Colombo last month, cricket’s global governing body formed a panel comprising three directors – Roger Twose, Lawson Naidoo, and Imran Khwaja – to report on this matter. “The meeting has been mainly called to address this issue but a decision on the Women’s World Cup cannot be ruled out,” concluded the report.