Momentum on their side, India eye series win against West Indies
Vadodara: Coming off one of their biggest wins in terms of runs, fancied India will look to guard against complacency when they take on a beleaguered West Indies side with an aim to bag the three-match series in the second Women’s ODI here on Tuesday.
India will be entering the game on the back of a massive 211-run victory over the visitors in the series opener in which the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team ticked almost all the boxes. Every match the teams play in the coming months will be significant as the ICC World Cup is scheduled to be held in the country next year.
India, who have never won a women’s World Cup, are desperate to end their ICC title drought at home and they are aware that a strong build-up is extremely
important for them to head into the mega event as one of the contenders alongside the ‘usual suspects’, Australia
and England.
Though India have not begun their preparations for the big tournament in earnest, having suffered a 0-3 whitewash in Australia, they bounced back in style, albeit against a much weaker opposition in the West Indies.
In between the ongoing ODI series and the one against Australia, India registered a 2-1 victory in a T20I rubber against the team from the Caribbean islands, which was their their first home series win in the shortest format in over five years, but their failure to qualify for the semi-final of the last T20 World Cup has left a lot to be desired. The team has been on a experimentation spree since the debacle in the UAE and has handed international debuts to as many as seven players, including Titas Sadhu, Priya Mishra and Pratika Rawal. Playing in her first ever international match, Delhi’s Pratika impressed with a 40-run knock off 69 balls during a century-plus opening partnership with vice-captain Smriti Mandhana.
The lone worry for India before the series opener was the fitness of Kaur, who missed the last two T20Is with a knee niggle, but with her clean hitting and running between the wickets, the skipper has laid all concerns to rest.
Mandhana was again in her element in the first ODI and made a classy 91 off 102 balls while laying the foundation for an imposing total.
