West Indies women fell to a 20-run loss to India in their first International Cricket Council (ICC) T20 Women's World Cup warm-up match at the ICC Academy Ground in Dubai on September 29.
With captain Hayley Matthews and her team beginning their 2024 T20 World Cup campaign versus South Africa in group B action on October 4, they got a stern test from the fourth-ranked Indian outfit.
Matthews called correctly at the toss and opted to field first, and the Barbados allrounder led from the front with the ball as she had figures of four for 17 as India were restricted to 141 for eight.
The top-ranked allrounder in the women's T20 game, Matthews couldn't replicate her brilliance with the bat as she made a five-ball duck during the Windies innings as they got to 121 for eight.
Earlier, Matthews struck twice in the power play as India slipped to 23 for three by the sixth over after losing Shafali Verma (seven), skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (one) and Smriti Mandhana (14) early on.
Fresh from her Massy Women's Caribbean Premier League exploits with Trinbago Knight Riders last month, allrounder Jemimah Rodrigues (52 off 40 balls) proved to be the backbone for the Indian innings.
Rodrigues struck five boundaries in her knock and shared in a 50-run stand for the fourth wicket with Yastika Bhatia (24) before the latter was bowled by Matthews in the 14th over. India took 19 runs off Aaliyah Alleyne in the 17th over, and though Rodrigues' innings was cut short via a run out in the next over, the Indians had a healthy end to their innings with 52 runs coming off the last five overs.
The Windies mirrored their opponents with their start with the bat, as they were reeling at 13 for three in the fourth over after the dismissals of Matthews, Qiana Joseph (one) and Chedean Nation (four).
[caption id="attachment_1111578" align="alignnone" width="819"] West Indies women's captain Hayley Matthews points the way versus India in a ICC T20 Women's World Cup warm-up match at the ICC Academy Ground, Dubai on September 29. Photo courtesy Windies Cricket. -[/caption]
Medium-pacer Pooja Vastrakar (three for 20) did the early damage for India by removing Joseph and Nation in her first two overs, and she also returned at the death to take the scalp of Nerissa Crafton.
Though the West Indies were behind the required run rate, Chinelle Henry (59 not out off 48 balls) and Campbelle (20 off 38 balls) gave their innings life with a 57-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Campbelle's stay at the crease was ended by Asha Sobhana (one for seven) in the 13th over, and the Windies quickly slipped to 71 for six in the subsequent over when Deepti Sharma (two for 11) got a double blow to remove Alleyne (duck) and Zaida James (one).
Afy Fletcher struck a four and a six in a breezy knock of 21 from 14 balls, and the right-handed Henry also added a few lusty blows at the back end as she got to her fifty off 43 balls with a six off Radha Yadav (one for 25) in the penultimate over.
Henry struck six fours and two sixes in her knock. And altho
