India 314 for 9 (Mandhana 91, Harleen 44, James 5-45) won West Indies 103 (Fletcher 24, Renuka 5-29) by 211 runs
After a T20I series that went to the decider, the first of the three ODIs between India and the West Indies was a completely one-sided fare. The hosts dominated from start to finish despite not batting to their full potential, while scoring a towering 314 for 9, and then barely flexed their bowling muscle to overcome a West Indies line-up that folded like nine bowlers. .
India will look back on their batting performance with mixed emotions despite the huge margin of victory. For the first half of their innings, they seemed to be stuck in second gear, with that safety-first approach that has troubled them in ODIs of late once again taking precedence even though Mandhana looks in brilliant form, as he has done in the format throughout. year.
The caution at first was largely due to a nervous debutant, Pratika Rawal, who auditioned to be Mandhana’s batting partner at the top of the order after a series of experiments earlier this month in Australia, notably the Richa Ghosh’s opening, will fail.
Rawal made 40 in a 110-run opening stand but got very lucky along the way. On 1, he tickled the keeper but West Indies did not review. In the 3rd, Afy Fletcher dropped a sitter at mid-off while attempting her first aggressive shot. Between the two of them, she survived a tight opportunity. To Rawal’s credit, he overcame all this to slowly build his innings, before falling for an unreal catch back to Mathews, as he lunged with all his might to snatch a one-handed stunner.
This became evident almost immediately when Harmanpreet changed the pace of the innings upon arrival, racing to 32 for 20 through her trademark sweeps and ferocious overhead hits, before a mix-up with Richa Ghosh, while attempting a run at short third, He interrupted his career. entrance.
Ghosh and Rodrigues made excellent cameos that helped give India the final kick, while also allowing them to cover up the mess in the middle overs, with the last 20 overs netting 160. Ghosh showed his full range of power, timing and finesse, all in one, as he scored 26 off 13 balls, while Rodrigues, now seen as a finisher, made 31 off 19.
The effect of Renuka’s spell also has a hypnotic effect on others. Titas Sadhu picked up his first ODI wicket and youngster Priya Mishra delivered an astute 4.2 overs for two wickets. All told, the look of horror on Shemaine Campbelle’s face as she hit a lofted shot only for an acrobatic Harmanpreet to intercept the ball at mid-on by jumping high and performing a one-handed catch summed up the night for the West Indies.
It was nothing short of a horror show with the bat, one they hoped to improve upon as they moved towards an over-50s World Cup on these same shores in 10 months.
Shashank Kishore is Senior Deputy Editor at ESPNcricinfo
