(Cricket news) After losing the last game against New Zealand by 62 runs, India bounced back by beating West Indies by 155 runs. It was a very important win for India and a big step towards semi final qualification. Mithali Raj became the cricketer with most matches captained in the ICC Women's World Cup, surpassing former Australian cricketer Belinda Clark.
After Mithali Raj won the toss for the 3rd time in a row she elected to bat first. The women in blue got off to a good start as Smriti Mandhana and Yastika Bhatia added 49 runs in just 6 overs. West Indies then picked up the wickets of Bhatia, Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma cheaply as India found themselves 3 down for 78 runs in 14 overs. Harmanpreet Kaur joined Mandhana in the middle and the pair added 184 runs which was India's highest partnership in women's world cup history. Mandhana scored 123 off 119 balls while Kaur got 109 off 107 balls as India put 317 runs on the board. The partnership between Mandhana and Kaur was very beautiful to watch with the left and right hand combination. It looked like the pair were taking turns to attack while the other would take singles.
Chasing 318 runs, West Indies got off to a great start as openers Deandra Dottin and Hayley Matthews got a 100 run partnership in just 12 overs. Mithali Raj brought Sneh Rana into the attack and she responded by dismissing the dangerous Dottin. No other Windies batter could settle into the crease as India bowled incredibly well. Rana was the pick of the bowlers as she picked up 3 wickets while Meghna Singh got 2 wickets. Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Jhulan Goswami got a scalp each. The wicket meant that Goswami became the highest wicket taker in the history of the Women's World Cup with 40 wickets as she went past Australia's Lyn Fullston, who had taken 39 wickets.
It was overall an incredible performance from India in all 3 departments. The only concern perhaps would be the new ball bowling which was a little bit haywire. The women in blue go top of the table till tomorrow with 4 points in two matches. Their next game is in 4 days time against defending champions England who are yet to register a victory in this campaign.
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