World T20: Indian women's campaign ends as West Indies enter semis
Needing a win to keep their hopes alive in the tournament, the Indian women’s team ended four runs short of a victory against West Indies at Mohali to bow out of the World T20. Earlier, West Indies had put 114/8 on the board with Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin scoring 47 and 45 respectively.
Brief Scores : West Indies 114/8 in 20/20 overs (Taylor 47(45), Dottin 45(40), Harmanpreet 4/23, Anuja 3/16) beat India 111/9 in 20/20 overs (Anuja 26(27), Goswami 25(19), Dottin 3/16) by three runs
Chasing 115, India got off to the worst possible start losing captain Mithali Raj in the very first ball of the innings. A length delivery outside the off-stump from pacer Shamilia Connell found the edge off Mithali’s bat, and Merissa Aguilleira behind the stumps took an easy catch to set off wild celebrations in the Windies camp. Veda Krishnamurthy came up the order and took the attack to the bowlers by smashing West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor for three boundaries in the second over. But her attacking play led to her downfall in the fourth over as she smashed one from medium pacer Deandra Dottin straight to Stacy-Ann King at midwicket.
Veda’s departure put a check on the run-rate as Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur struggled to score against Connell and Dottin. With just 17 runs coming in the next 29 deliveries, Harmanpreet decided to take on the right-arm off-spin of Afy Fletcher and went for a lofted shot over cover only to find Kyshona Knight near the ropes.
Needing 76 runs in the next 11 overs, India needed a big innings from one of the players to cross the line, but it never came as the hosts continued to lose wickets at regular intervals. Smriti Mandhana looked good for a big innings but perished in the 13th over to Fletcher after scoring 22 off 27 balls. Jhulan Goswami and Anuja Patil kept India’s hopes of a win alive with a 31-run partnership for the fifth wicket, but Anuja’s wicket in the 18th over left India needing 20 runs in the last two overs. Jhulan Goswami cleared long-on in the penultimate over to close the gap, but a horror mix-up in the next ball ended her innings. In the last over, India needed 10 runs, but it started with a wicket as Ekta Bisht got clean bowled by Dottin.
Shikha Pandey smashed a four off the third ball of the over to reignite India’s hopes, but two wickets in the next two balls ended their dim hopes as the Windies won by three runs to enter the semis. With the loss, India bowed out of the tournament with just one win in the four group games.Â
Earlier, Indian skipper Mithali Raj and Windies captain Stafanie Taylor walked out for the toss with a semi-final spot at stake. The equation was simple for West Indies - win the match and enter the semi-finals, while for India it was much more complicated. They needed a win against West Indies and needed England to defeat Pakistan later today to confirm a spot in the last four.
Mithali Raj won the toss and opted to bowl on a wicket, which was predicted to assist spinners. With the Indian men’s team also scheduled to play on the same wicket in a virtual quarter-final against Australia later, the pitch was at the centre of every discussion. Pacer Jhulan Goswami opened the bowling for India, but the low bounce in the first ball was a sign of things to come as left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht arrived from the other end. Windies openers Hayley Matthews and skipper Stafanie Taylor played cautiously in the first three overs, but a quicker one from Ekta Bisht went under Hayley Matthews’ bat to hit the timber.
The away side went two down in the next over as right-arm off-spinner Anuja Patil struck with her second ball to catch Kyshona Knight right in front of the stumps. Shaquana Quintyne arrived next and survived for nine balls before Anuja Patil bowled her around the legs. With the team in a spot of bother at 26/3, skipper Stafanie Taylor and Deandra Dottin came together and bid their time initially before launching a counter attack against the Indians.
The duo added 27 runs in the first 30 balls before upping the ante by scoring 50 in the next 35 to form a 77-run partnership for the fourth wicket. When Taylor and Dottin were at the crease, it was looking as if the Windies would comfortably cross the 140-mark with seven wickets in hand. But, the departure of the skipper for 47 off 45 balls changed the equation as West Indies lost four more wickets in the last two overs to settle for a moderate total of 114/8. Harmanpreet Kaur was the star for India with the ball taking four wickets for 23 runs, with three of the wickets coming in the last four.Â