Women’s T20 World Cup: Deepti Sharma’s three-wicket helps India restrict West Indies to 118/6

Cape Town [South Africa], February 15 (ANI): Deepti Sharma’s three-wicket haul helped India restrict West Indies to 118/6 in 20 over in the ongoing ICC Women’s T20 World Cup here at Newlands in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Deepti bagged the wickets of Stafanie Taylor, Shemaine Campbelle and Afy Fletcher, conceding just 15 runs in her spell of 4 overs. For West Indies, Taylor scored the highest with 42 runs off 40 balls. Put to field first, India got off to a fiery start as Pooja Vastrakar provided her team with a big wicket of Hayley Matthews in the second over of the innings. West Indies recovered through the Powerplay after opening batter Hayley Matthews fell at the start of the second over.

The key wicket of Matthews was a big fillip for India’s attack, which had a good mix of spin and pace options including the likes of Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh and Radha Yadav. But experienced West Indies star Stafanie Taylor led the recovery, back in the side at this tournament after a lengthy absence. Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle stitched up a solid 50-run partnership by the mid-point of the innings, laying a platform for a potentially big score.

Campbelle and Taylor led their team on the front foot while hammering Indian bowlers all around the ground slamming boundaries with singles at regular intervals. However, India’s star all-rounder Deepti Sharma struck twice to provide Team India with breakthroughs as she dismissed Shemaine Campbelle and well-set batter Stafanie Taylor. Campbelle went back to the pavilion after scoring 30 runs while Taylor played a vigilant knock of 42 runs.

And when Chinelle Henry was run out for 2 in the 15th over of the innings, West Indies were put under pressure of wasting the start by Taylor and Campbelle.
New batters Shabika Gajnabi and Chedean Nation then took their team’s total beyond the 100-run mark in under 18 overs. In the 19th over, West Indies lost the wicket of Shabika Gajnabi as Renuka Singh bowled out the batter for 15. Last over of the innings saw Deepti producing a stunning wicket to remove Afy Fletcher and gave 4 runs to restrict West Indies to 118/6.

Brief score: West Indies 118/6 (Stafanie Taylor 42, Shemaine Campbelle 30; Deepti Sharma 3-15) vs India.