India Women vs West Indies Women 1st ODI:  Veda KrishnaMurthy, Rajeshwari Gayakwad help India Women take series lead

India Women vs West Indies Women 1st ODI: Veda Krishnamurthy scored 52 while Mithali Raj made 46 and Rajeshwari Gayakwad picked up four wickets to help India Women beat West Indies Women by 6 wickets.

Mithali Raj-led Indian Women team beat West Indies Women by six wickets in the first one-day international of the three-match series at Gokaraju Liala Gangaaraju ACA Cricket Ground in Vijayawada. Indian spinners Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Ekta Bisht shared seven wickets between them as India cruised to an easy win. Gayakwad took four wickets while Bisht scalped three.

After winning the toss, Mithali Raj decided to bowl first and bowlers backed her decision from the word go. West Indies Women, who won the WT20 in India earlier this year, were rattled by the Indian bowlers early in the innings. In the second over of the match right arm medium pacer, Sikha Pandey gave India first breakthrough in the form of Shaquana Quintyne, who was dismissed for a duck. Opener Hayley Matthews showed some resistance during his 24- run stay at the crease. Matthews was trapped lbw by Bisht. After two quick dismissals, Captain Stafanie Taylor tried to nullify Indian spinners, but she failed as Ekta Bisht bamboozled her with an absolute ripper.

Windies failed to show any resistance as Indian spinners were unplayable . Middle order batswoman Merissa Aguilleira tried to salvage the sinking ship with unbeaten 42 but on the other end her compatriots failed to give her any support. West Indies managed to post only 131 runs on the board in 42.4 overs. (Actual fun is when you bowl on challenging tracks, says Harbhajan Singh)

Chasing a paltry total of 132, Indian Women suffered an early set backs. They lost four quick wickets. Openers Deepti Sharma and Smriti Mandhana failed to give India a good start. Mandhana was the first to go as she was dismissed for just seven runs by Shakera Selman. Selman in the gap of four overs gave West Indies another breakthrough in the form of Mona Meshram, who was sent back for only two runs. (India vs England 1st Test: Umesh Yadav must express his gratitude to Herschelle Gibbs for Joe Root’s wicket)

India lost two more wickets when opener Deepti Sharma failed to accelerate her innings after getting a solid start. Sharma was dismissed for 16 by spinner Afy Flecther.  However, Mithali and  Krishnamurthy salvaged Indian innings.

Raj and Krishnamurthy built a 97 runs match winning partnership. While Raj, scored 46, Krishnamurthy notched up her fourth ODI half-century.  Between Krishnamurthy and Raj the former was in her attacking best. She hit two massive sixes while Raj played the role of an anchor so that India don’t lose anymore wicket. Raj relied on ground shots and one and twos while Krishnamurthy shaped her innings with fantastic boundaries and lusty sixes. With this India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series and it will be interesting to see how the WT20 champions West Indies Women comeback in the next ODI and how Indian women team approach the second ODI which will be played  at the same ground in Vijayawada.

(Image credit: Cricketcountry.com)