NAVI MUMBAI: When it mattered, the India women’s team came to the party.
Thoroughly entertaining a massive, record crowd of 47, 204 at the DY Patil Stadium here on Thursday night in the series decider against the West Indies by putting on a clinical show with the bat and ball and lager taking a ‘winning lap’ around the ground, India coasted to a morale-boosting 60-run win in the third and final T20I. Reeling after the 3-0 thrashing at the hands of the Aussies in the away ODI series earlier this month, the hosts now go into the ODI series in Baroda from Dec 22 having downed the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup semifinals 2-1 in the T20I leg.
Using her bat like a sledgehammer, dashing ‘keeper-batter Richa Ghosh equalled the record for the quickest half-century (54, 21b, 3×4, 5×6), while stand-in-captain Smriti Mandhana slammed her third consecutive fifty (77, 47b, 13×4, 1×6), breaking the record for scoring the most T20I runs in a calendar year, as India plundered their way to 217 for four in 20 overs after being asked to take first strike.
It is India’s highest-ever total in this format. There were also useful contributions by Jemimah Rodrigues (39, 28b, 4×4), who added 98 in 55 balls for the second wicket with Mandhana, and young batter Raghvi Bist (31 not out, 22b, 2×4, 1×6), who was impressive while playing just her second international game.
After bulldozing West Indies with the bat, the Indian women’s team fielded like tigresses and bowled superbly, as West Indies crumbled with the bat and were restricted to 157 for nine in 20 overs, with only Chinelle Henry (43, 16b, 3×4, 4×6) putting up some fight.
Much to India’s delight, the visitors lost skipper Hayley Matthews (22), who had blasted 85 not out off 47 balls to fashion West Indies’ win in the last match, in the eight over, when she was caught by Sajeevan Sajana at long-off off Radha Yadav.
It was a brilliant comeback by India after they were mauled by nine wickets by the visitors in the second T20I at the same venue on Tuesday. With Ghosh and Mandhana, who cracked seven boundaries in a row in the first four overs, going beserk, West Indies’ veteran seamer Deandra Dotti, who had taken 2-14 in four over in the last match, ended up conceding 54 in four overs on Thursday night. In the fourth over, Mandhana took 20 off Dottin-three fours and a superbly-timed six over wide long-off.
Off-spinner Karishma Ramharack, another impressive bowler for the Caribbeans, went for 44-0 in three overs.
Looking like she was out to have a party at the expense of the clueless-looking West Indies bowlers the moment she walked in to bat in the 15th over, Ghosh, who is amongst the most dangerous finishers, teed off from the first ball she faced, pumping a six over long -off to Deandra Dottin. The 21-year-old then sliced the next ball for a four, and then in the next over, lofted Aaliyah Alleyne to the cow corner.
In a murderous mood, she pulled Alleyne for a six to deep square leg, and then thumped West Indies captain Hayley Matthews for back-to-back sixes in the 19th over-a slog sweep while going down on one knee followed by a pull off a long hop to deep square leg. With the crowd chanting ‘Richa, Richa’ as she kept producing one big blow after another, a fired-up Ghosh reached her fifty – now the fastest along with New Zealand’s Sophie Devine and Australia’s Phoebe Litchfield – by clubbing an Alleyne delivery for a six in the final over.
Has any Indian batter, or any batter in world cricket, been in more smashing form than Mandhana has been in 2024 in white-ball cricket in the women’s game? The classy left-hander is now the top run-getter in T20Is this year, with 763 runs under her belt in 23 matches @42.38, with eight fifties. No one has scored more runs in T20Is in 2024. She has stroked 100 fours this year-again a record. Apart from all this, the ultra-consistent left-hander has hit four hundreds this year-the most by anybody.
Coming off scores of 54 off 33 balls & 62 off 41 balls in the first two T20Is, Mandhana, raining boundaries on both sides of the wicket, set up the base from which Ghosh launched India’s total past 200. India suffered an early blow when opener Uma Chetry was out for a duck in the first over.
