The Indian women’s team rode on star allrounder Deepti Sharma’s heroics with the ball to wrap up their 3-0 ODI series win against the West Indies at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.
Photo: IANS
The Indian women’s team rode on star allrounder Deepti Sharma’s heroics with the ball to wrap up their 3-0 ODI series win against the West Indies at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara.
The off-spinner returned impressive figures of 6 for 31 to script her name in the record books. With the feat, Deepti became the first Indian woman cricketer to take two six-wicket hauls in ODIs, joining South Africa’s Sune Luus as the only other woman in the list.
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Deepti also played a hand with the bat to secure India’s clean sweep of the visitors, after the home side found themselves in a spot of bother during the chase.
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Having bowled out West Indies for 162 after Deepti’s superlative performance and pacer Renuka Singh’s (4/29) excellent show with the new ball, India recovered after a top-order wobble to reach the target of 163 in 28.2 overs.
Reduced to 73 for 4, India desperately needed the services of Deepti with the bat, and the seasoned allrounder contributed with a handy 39 off 48 balls to see the team through with plenty of overs remaining. Swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh was unbeaten on an 11-ball 23 when the winning runs were scored.
Earlier, Renuka tormented West Indies with a fiery opening spell before Deepti got into the act to bowl out the visitors cheaply. Thakur’s accurate line and length dismantled the top order, while Deepti deceived the West Indies batters with flight and guile, recording her third ODI five-wicket haul and second six-wicket performance.
West Indies fought back with a 97-run partnership between Chinelle Henry (61) and Shemaine Campbelle (46), helping them to cross 160. Without this stand, the visitors might have been bowled out for less than 100. Apart from Henry and Campbelle, only Aaliyah Alleyne (21) reached a double digit score as West Indies’ batting woes continued.
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