India 95 for 2 (Rodrigues 42*, Harmanpreet 32*, Matthews 1-7) beat West Indies 94 for 6 (Matthews 34, Deepti 3-11, Vastrakar 2-19) by eight wickets
Deepti spins a web, James shines on debut
With India opting to bowl, Deepti triggered a slide for West Indies with her flight and dip. She first cleaned Rashada Williams up – who had opened the innings with Hayley Matthews, as West Indies changed their opening combination yet again – before repeating the act against Shemaine Campbelle on the next ball.
Left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad trapped Djenaba Joseph in front before Matthews and Shabika Gajnabi held fort. However, Vastrakar managed to bounce Matthews out for a run-a-ball 34 to leave West Indies at 53 for 4 in the 12th over.
It was then that James, on West Indies debut, showed her wares. She was the highest run-scorer for West Indies in the recently-concluded Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup, and carried her form into the game, scoring an unbeaten 21 off 31 balls. She did prevent India from running through the line-up, but the runs took their time to come.
However, James did tonk two sixes on the day – just as many as West Indies had managed in the entire tri-series until then – by first pummeling Shikha Pandey over wide long-on, before using her feet to get to the pitch of a Deepti delivery and smash it right back over long-off. James added 21 off just 16 balls with Aaliyah Alleyne, helping West Indies amass 36 off the last five overs, although they could still manage only 94 – an indication of how much the batters before had struggled.
Rodrigues steady in chase
Rodrigues remained fluent on a slow track that aided spin, finding gaps at will, and cashing in on the width offered by the West Indies seamers. As the innings wore on, Harmanpreet got into her own too, and freed her arms to hit four fours as she finished unbeaten on 32 off just 23 balls. The pair took only 40 balls, and helped India get home with eight wickets and 37 balls to spare.
India now face South Africa in the tri-series final on Thursday, having qualified for the title match even before their washout against South Africa two days back.
