India 167 beats per 5 (Deepti 39*, Harmanpreet 32, Rodrigues 29, Ghosh 23*) west indies 162 (Henry 61, Campbelle 46, Deepti 6-31, Renuka 4-29) with 5 wickets.
Richa Ghosh gave the finishing touches while Deepti worked hard and got some lucky help when she fell to Hayley Matthews on the 21st hole. Ghosh, who walked in with India at 129 for 5, allayed fears of a collapse by hitting 1 four and 3 sixes in a lively 11-ball 23. This included back-to-back sixes from legspinner Afy Fletcher to see India in chase.
Playing the first ODI of the series in the shadow of the collapse, Henry rebuilt the innings. She struggled to hit the ball early, going 3 for 17. And suddenly she was off, taking out debutant left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar’s six-hit release shot.
For his third half-century, Henry played neat little cuts and glides. Campbelle, on the other hand, reacted positively to the spin. She struck early on legspinner Priya Mishra, hitting three boundaries in her second over. After using her feet to launch two stunning drives – one down the ground and another through cover – she stayed back and pulled Mishra for the third.
This stand of 91 for the fourth wicket seemed to revive the visitors as much as it frustrated India. This is when Deepti came into the game and contributed significantly.
Campbell was consumed by a bloody rush as he was dragged down by Deepti’s big over, but Pratika Rawal was able to take a comfortable catch at long-on. In the next over, Zaida James brilliantly captured Deepti being slipped by Harmanpreet while driving in rough conditions.
It could have been a triple strike for India, but for Renuka, she dropped the simplest return catch with a leading edge to keep Aaliya Alleyne at zero. Alleyne was down for just 21 and fell to a tame chip to short midwicket. Alleyne’s wicket heated up shortly after Henry was dismissed when he was bowled to a straighter man for his third ODI half-century. West Indies have lost their last five wickets in 21 overs.
India started their response in a tense manner, losing Smriti Mandhana and Harleen Deol early in the powerplay against a moving ball. Pratika Rawal also missed a great opportunity to build on a solid foundation in the first two ODIs as he holed out to mid-on to counter Matthews’ off-spin.
India captain Harmanpreet picked up the pieces and put up a fantastic cover-driving exhibition. Starting with two fours off her first five deliveries, she went on to work her way through a packed offside ring and hit Dottin for 34 in the ninth over to quickly take it from 13 to 23.
Harmanpreet looked torn as he played a back to be bowled by Afy Fletcher’s skidder. The wicket gave the visitors a brief boost but India were not to be denied as Deepti, Jemimah Rodrigues and Ghosh all took them home with neat hands.
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo.
