Chasing 138 runs, India lost the second T20 match by 31 runs to West Indies, thus conceding the three-match series to the visitors in Vijayawada.
After Harmanpreet Kaur elected to field in a must-win encounter, the hosts restricted West Indies to 137 for five. The home team put up an improved performance in the field to keep the batters in check even as skipper Stafanie Taylor anchored the innings with a 47-run knock.
However, India’s batting succumbed to the West Indies attack without much resistance, and were left wobbling on 87 for nine in the 16th over. While Harmanpreet (43 off 37 balls) looked to keep the chase afloat, she couldn’t find adequate support from the other end. The all-rounder was the last to return to the dugout as the team folded for 106.
Chasing a competitive total, India lost Mandhana in the first over as the opener hit Shakera Selman straight to mid-off and 24 runs later, debutant S Meghana was trapped lbw by Hayley Matthews for 17.
Krishnamurthy then joined Deepti Sharma in shaping the chase and smacked Selman over mid-on to collect her first boundary. However, in the next over she was bowled by Matthews leaving the hosts on 37 for three. Although they too maintained a run rate of six runs per over, India had lost two wickets more than their opponents inside the powerplay.
With the field spread out, Harmanpreet and Sharma garnered singles as they worked to keep the team in the fray. They had taken India to 59 when Sharma was caught by Anisa Mohammed off her own bowling for 24.
With 79 runs required, Harmanpreet then looked to take the chase forward with Shikha Pandey. But, Anisa’s double blow, after being hit over long-on for a six by the skipper, left India on 74 for six in the 13th over. Caught at deep square-leg off the spinner, Pandey departed for five while Anuja Patil was trapped lbw.
With 63 runs required from 43 balls Jhulan Goswami walked out to the middle, but departed hitting Dottin straight to the cover region for seven. Later in the over, Ekta Bisht hit the bowler to mid-on where Britney Cooper took a catch diving forward.
In the next over, India lost their ninth wicket as Nuzhat Parween was sent back by Shaquana Quintyne while looking to sweep the bowler. With Bose, Harmanpreet continued to put up a fight as they faced an uphill task. With 32 required off 12 balls, the captain faced Dottin and was out on the first ball in the penultimate over.
Earlier in the visitors’ inning, a brilliant catch by Harmanpreet at midwicket off Pandey sent back Matthews to end the opening stand for 35.
After adding five runs to the total, Cooper returned to the dugout leaving the team on 41 for two. Looking to clear the fence, she took the aerial route to Sharma and was caught by Krishnamurthy at the boundary in front of the sight screen. Dottin who then joined the captain helped shape the innings with a 48-run partnership at a healthy run-rate. She nicked Bisht past the ‘keeper for four and followed up with another boundary past square-leg. While Taylor held up one end, the middle-order bat attacked with gusto. As she looked to add quick runs, she was dropped on 24 by Mandhana. The fielder who had been diving around and saving the boundaries, missed the chance in the cover region. The batter went on to add 11 runs to her score before hitting Pandey straight to mid-wicket.
In the next over, India missed a chance to peg the opposition further back as Goswami wasn’t able to hold on to a return catch after Taylor had hit the ball back at her while on 20.
Coming together on 89 for two, Taylor and Aguilleira added 48 runs off 35 balls before the latter was run out with a ball left in the innings. They ran hard between the wickets, while the fielders strove to restrict the flow of runs. Mandhana, Krishnamurthy manned the boundary along with Harmanpreet, Preeti Bose and Goswami to cut off the boundaries and keep the batters on their toes.
While the batters collected 10 runs off Pandey in the 17th over, Sharma too was milked for the runs in the penultimate over by the West Indies captain. In the last over, Patil’s throw from midwicket ran out Aguillera while Bisht claimed Taylor off the last ball to end the innings.
