Riding on a splendid half-century from Punam Raut and followed by a disciplined bowling performance, India women recorded a convincing 53 run win in the second ODI of the five-match series against the West Indies.
After having lost the first ODI by just one run, India did well to defend the 192 run target set by them at Sir Vivian Richards on Sunday.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, India did not have a great start as they lost their opening duo with just 17 runs on the board.
However, the duo of Punam Raut and captain Mithali Raj then came together and bailed the Indian team from a difficult situation. Both added 60 runs for the third wicket before Mithali fell prey to Sheneta Grimmond.
The fall of Mithali’s wicket, however, did not bother Punam who continued her run-scoring form. She added another 93 runs along with Harmanpreet Kaur before the latter was dismissed in the 47th over. Punam eventually lost her wicket, in an attempt to score some quick runs. India managed 191 in their quota of 50 overs and lost as many as 6 wickets.
In response, West Indies too started off poorly and lost their opener Stacy-Ann King in the fourth over itself. However, wicketkeeper Shemaine Campbelle then shared a 68 run stand with Natasha McLean before Natasha retired hurt. West Indies captain Stafanie Taylor tried to repeat her match-winning heroics in the first match but failed to do so as she was eventually dismissed for 20 runs.
None of the other West Indian players managed to stay at the crease as wickets kept falling. Although Campbell had held one end up when she was dismissed in the 34th over, the hosts were staring at defeat, eventually being bowled out for just 138 runs in the 48th over.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Deepti Sharma and Poonam all picked two-two wickets each and never let the opposition go threaten India in the match.
The series is now level at 1-1 and the two teams will now meet on Wednesday for the third ODI.
Brief scores: India 191/6 (Punam Raut 77, Harmanpreet Kaur 46; Afy Fletcher 2/32) beat West Indies 138 all out (Shemaine Campbelle 39, Stafanie Taylor 20; Deepti Sharma 2/25) by 53 runs.