Taunton: Opener Smriti Mandhana made amends for missing out on a hundred against England with a scintillating unbeaten 106 guiding India to a comfortable seven-wicket victory against West Indies in the ICC Women’s World Cup, on Thursday.
Chasing a modest target of 184, Indian eves won with as many as 45 balls to spare, courtesy another superlative performance from the left-handed opener Mandhana.
After her match-winning 90 against hosts England, Mandhana started from where she had left the other day, hitting 13 fours and two sixes -- both pull shots.
Along with the ever-dependable skipper Mithali Raj (46), Mandhana added 108 runs for the third wicket virtually shutting the World T20 champions out of contest.
Mithali was unlucky not to score her eighth consecutive half-century in ODIs missing by a mere four runs. She would rue the chance as a loopy full toss from off-break bowler Hayley Mathews was hit straight to Afy Fletcher at mid-off. But young Mandhana did not let the second chance go abegging, hitting some delightful strokes all-round the park.
When Shanilia Connell dug one short, she rocked to the backfoot pulling it over mid-wicket. She repeatedly found the gaps on the off-side and also hit some glorious shots on the on-side.
India could have been in trouble at 33/2 but with Mithali on other end, Mandhana went for her shots without pressure.
The century — her 2nd in ODIs, came when she charged down the track to loft Stafanie Taylor inside out. The hundred off only 105 balls. Fittingly, she finished the match with her 13th boundary to get a deserving second ‘Player of the Match’ award.
“I was quite nervous after 90 but my partner Mona told me not to play a rash shot. This knock is special because we were chasing and my first hundred came in a losing cause (against Australia). Also this comes in a World Cup game,” Mandhana said after the match.
Brief scores: West Indies Women: 183/8 in 50 overs (H. Matthews 43, Afy Fletcher 36*; P. Yadav 2/19, Deepti Sharma 2/27) lost to India Women: 186/3 in 42.3 overs (Smriti Mandhana 106*, Mithali Raj 46).
