Captain Stafanie Taylor led West Indies to a six-wicket win the opening game of the three-match T20I series in Vijayawada with a sparkling 90 off 51 balls. Half-centuries from captain Harmanpreet Kaur (68* off 50) and Veda Krishnamurthy (50 off 46) had set West Indies a 151-run target. The West Indies skipper then clobbered the Indian attack to overhaul the target with ease.
Earlier, when Harmanpreet opted to bat, India lost V Vanitha in the second over. Trapped lbw by Shakera Selman, the opener was back in the pavilion for three. Krishnamurthy then joined Smriti Mandhana in taking on the West Indies bowlers. The opener, lofted Deandra Dottin over long off for a six, while Krishnamurthy struck Selman for couple of boundaries in the next over to deep midwicket and through point. There was no looking back for the middle-order bat after that as she carried on from where she had left in the one-day games.
While they found the ropes with ease, the duo ran quick singles to keep the scoreboard moving. However, with the team on 28, Mandhana edged Dottin to Merrisa Aguilleira behind the stumps and returned to the pavilion in the sixth over.
Harmanpreet then joined Krishnamurthy in clobbering the West Indies attack. With boundaries at regular intervals mostly in front of the wicket to complement the quick running between the wickets, the pair took India to 53 for two halfway through the innings.
Veda then hit a boundary and in the following over and Harmanpreet struck Afy Fletcher for three more - in front of square-leg, through extra cover and straight down the wicket - as they collected 15 runs in the 12th over. Chedean Nation, the sixth bowler introduced into the attack also was lofted for a six by Krishnamurthy over long on. As they upped the ante, they scored at over six runs an over. With her clean hitting the skipper launched Fletcher for six on the off side as she carried the innings forward.
The Harmanpreet-Krishnamurthy pierced the field with ease and gleaned runs off the WI attack as they took India to 102 for two in 15 overs.
While they continued to take the opposition head on, Krishnamurthy soon completed her 50 off 45 with a single off Selman. However, she was caught by Kycia Knight at mid-wicket soon after as she took the aerial route.
With the end of the third wicket partnership for 88, Jhulan Goswami joined the skipper with 19 balls left in the innings. Harmanpreet, who was plundering the attack at the other end, reached her 50 off 41 balls with a single off Nation on the on-side in the next over.
In the last over India plucked 19 runs off Nation with Harmanpreet dispatching the bowler for two sixes – over covers and long on - as she took India to 150 for four.
Defending the target, Shikha Pandey accounted for Matthews with 31 runs on the board. Taylor then led the charge as she took West Indies past 50 in the eighth over with Britney Cooper. Timing her strokes, she claimed boundaries of the Indian spinners – Poonam Yadav and Anuja Patil with ease. She also launched leg-spinner, Yadav for six in front of the wicket.
With the visitors scoring steadily at over six runs an over, the debutant, Preeti Bose was introduced into the attack in the 11th over. And the off-spinner responded with the wicket of Cooper. The stumping of the No 3 bat was also debutant wicketkeeper, Nuzhat Parween’s first dismissal.
As she looked to overhaul the target, with the experienced and inform Aguilleira, Taylor brought up her fifty off just 36 balls. Harmanpreet, who had brought herself into the attack was struck for a couple of boundaries – over cover and through leg side by her opposite number after reaching her fifty earlier in the over.
With 14 runs required off 18 balls, Shikha Pandey bowled the 18th over and was dismissed over the cover region for four by Taylor. However, the pacer dislodged the bails of the West Indies captain off the next ball. Two balls later, she accounted for Aguilleira. But with nine runs required 13 balls, Knight joined Dottin in the middle and the pair took the visitors across the line with five balls to spare.
