| India’s 155-run victory in the Women’s ODI Cricket World Cup

HAMILTON: India won the Women’s ODI Cricket World Cup by 155 runs against the West Indies on Saturday. Batting first, India scored 317 for eight. In reply, West Indies were all out for 162 in 40.3 overs.

India topped the table with four points from three matches. Opener Smriti Mandana (two sixes off 119 balls, 123 off 13 fours) and Harmanpreet Kaur (109 off 107 balls, two sixes and 109 off 10 fours) were the top scorers for India. The Indians batted as if they had learned a lesson from New Zealand’s defeat. Indian skipper Mithali Raj won the toss and elected to bat first. Opener Yasthika Bhatia (31 off 21 balls) and Mithali (five) disappointed. Mandana and Kaur saved India from falling to 78 for three in the fourth over. They scored 184 for the fourth wicket.

Smriti scored the fifth century of his ODI career. Kaur’s fourth ODI century and second World Cup century. Harmanpreet remained unbeaten on 171 in the 2017 World Cup against Australia. The pair split at a team score of 262. Mandana was handed over to Shamilia Connell Selman. Deepti Sharma (15 off 21 balls) and Pooja Vastrakar (10) were the next to disappoint. The score was 313 when Kaur was bowled by Aliah Alain wicketkeeper Shemaine Campbell.

Julen Goswami (two) was the last to come out. For the first time in the Women’s World Cup, the Indian team is scoring over 300. Harmanpreet Kaur also set a new record with a century. She became the first Indian to score more centuries in the Women’s World Cup. With the exception of West Indies opener Diandra Dott (62 off 46 balls, including a six and 10 fours), there was no reply in front of the Indian bowlers. Hayley Mathews was the other opener with 43 off 36 balls, including six fours. The remaining 20 were not even complete.

With Dot and Mathews at the crease, the Windies had already crossed the 100 mark in the 13th over. The Windies were all out for the next 62 runs. For India, Sneha Rana took three wickets while Meghna Singh took two wickets. Julan Goswami, Rajeshwari Gaikwad and Pooja Vastrakar took one wicket each. Smriti Mandana is the star of the match. India’s Mithali Raj holds the record for most matches in the Women’s ODI World Cup.

Mithali, 39, has led India to 24 World Cups. Mithali has 14 wins and eight losses. One match was abandoned. Mithali breaks Australia’s Belinda Clark’s record Clarke led the team in 23 games. Only Mithali and Clarke have led the team to more than two World Cups. Mithali is the third player to play in six World Cups. His predecessors were master blaster Sachin Tendulkar and Pakistani legend Javed Miandad. Veteran pacer Julen Goswami also broke the record yesterday. Julen, 39, holds the record for most wickets in World Cup history. Julen holds the record for most wickets taken by Australia’s Lynette Ann Fullstone with 39 wickets. The record was set yesterday with the dismissal of Aneesa Mohammad (two). This is Julen Goswami’s fifth World Cup.