WI women hit back to win 2nd T20I

WI’s Hayley Matthews during her 85 not out against India in Navi Mumbai yesterday. Pic/PTI

Contrary to the first T20I on Sunday, the West Indies women were better on Tuesday, bowling a disciplined line and length. Their smartness in the initial overs was largely responsible in restricting India to 159-9 in the second T20I after being asked to bat at DY Patil Stadium.

This change in approach rubbed off on their batters who raced to 65-0 in the Powerplay. Led by captain and opener Hayley Matthews's unbeaten 85 (47b, 17x4), the visitors won by nine wickets to level the series 1-1 with everything to play for in the decider on Thursday.

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Smriti scored 62

The Indian bowlers were off colour on a pitch that had runs written all over it, and had to contend with the dew factor.

Openers Qiana Joseph and Mathews destroyed the Indian bowlers in the Powerplay, knocking 18 runs off Titas Sadhu in the second over and 15 off Renuka Singh in the third. The left-handed Joseph picked the gaps and went over the in-field. She was dropped on 26 by Sajana Sajeevan at the mid-wicket boundary before being foxed by a back-of-the-hand delivery from Saima Thakor, caught for 38 (22b, 6x4, 2x6).

But, Matthews was unstoppable en route to her 15th T20I fifty, toying with the Indian bowlers and scoring fours with remarkable ease. That Windies won with 4.2 overs to spare spoke of how brilliantly Matthews batted.

Earlier, Windies opening bowlers Chinelle Henry and Deandra Dottin maintained a wicket-to-wicket line and cramped the Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Uma Chetry for space to play their strokes.

The result of this tidy bowling was Dottin castling Chetry for four with one that swung in and kept low as the diminutive right-hander played off the back foot. Jemimah Rodrigues was trapped LBW by Matthews' off-spin for 13 as the Indians were restricted to just 35-2 before the field spread out.

Mandhana, leading the side as Harmanpreet Kaur was unavailable following a niggle in her knee suffered in the first T20I, was under pressure to accelerate. She led a charmed life, dropped on 30 and twice on 40. However, after completing her second successive fifty, she scooped Mathews to short fine-leg, Afy Fletcher making no mistake this time. Mandhana's 62 came from 41 deliveries (9x4, 1x6).

Richa Ghosh provided the fireworks in the last five overs, scoring a 17-ball 32.

Brief scores
India 159-9 in 20 overs (S Mandhana 62, R Ghosh 32; D Dottin 2-14, A Fletcher 2-28, H Matthews 2-36, C Henry 2-37) lost to West Indies 160-1 in 15.4 overs (H Matthews 85', Q Joseph 38, S Campbelle 29') by 9 wickets