India faced West Indies in match no. 9 of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2023 at Newlands in Cape Town on Wednesday (February 15).
West Indies won the toss and elected to bat first, but found it tough to score against a disciplined Indian bowling attack. Stafanie Taylor was the top scorer for West Indies, making 42 runs off 40 balls, while Chedean Nation contributed 21 off 18. Deepti Sharma was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking three wickets for just 15 runs in her quota of four overs.
In response, India got off to a strong start, with openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana playing some attacking shots. Although both batters fell cheaply, Richa Ghosh played a crucial knock of 44 off 32 balls to keep India ahead in the chase. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur also added 33 valuable runs off 42 deliveries to guide India to victory.
Meanwhile, Karishma Ramharack scalped two wickets for West Indies and gave away just 14 runs in her four overs. However, the efforts of Ramharack went in vain as she failed to help her team avoid the loss and unfortunately ended up on the losing side On the other hand, Deepti was adjudged ‘Player of the Match’ for her exceptional bowling figures.
With three wickets against the Woman in Maroon, Deepti also became the first Indian Woman cricketer to scalp 100 wickets in the T20I format.
Speaking about her performance and record feat, the Agra-born in the post-match presentation said: “I feel good. What we discussed in the meeting and the plans I had against the West Indies batters, we were able to apply that in the middle. That is a milestone and I am happy with the achievement (first Indian to 100 T20I wickets). I am focusing on the rest of the World Cup games. There is a bit of turn in this surface and I focus on bowling stump to stump.”
Richa Ghosh takes India over the finish line. #T20WorldCup #INDvWI Scorecard: https://t.co/l8UXowEDbX #CricketTwitter #WomenCricket pic.twitter.com/A8hR2H7c48
— WomenCricket.com (@WomenCricketHQ) February 15, 2023
Notably, this was India’s second consecutive win in the tournament, and they have now moved up to the second spot in Group B points table, while West Indies lost both of their fixtures and sit at the fourth position in the points tally.
