Indian women's team suffer 3-0 whitewash against West Indies in T20I series

Malapadu: Harmanpreet Kaur’s half-century went in vain as West Indies eked out a 15-run victory over India to complete a 3-0 sweep of the T20I series. Opting to bat, West Indies scored a modest 139 for four from their allotted 20 overs but managed to restrict India to 124 for three. Chasing 140, India lost their top-order cheaply to be reeling at 32 for three in 5.5 overs with opener VR Vanitha getting run out for a duck, followed by Meghna Singh (19) and Smriti Mandhana (6) – both of whom were dismissed in the powerplay. [caption id=“attachment_3119490” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Indian women’s team after their defeat to West Indies. Image courtesy: BCCI official website.[/caption] Veda Krishnamurthy (31 not out) and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (60 not out) then consolidated the innings and batted together till the end of the match, adding unbroken 92 runs for the fourth wicket. But the duo’s effort was not enough to see the hosts through. Krishnamurthy failed to hit a single boundary during her 40-ball knock, struggling to keep up to the asking run-rate, even as Harmanpreet managed to maintain a 100-plus strike rate, hitting three fours and three sixes in her 51-ball innings. India eventually lost by 15 runs with seven wickets still in hand. Earlier, West Indies got off to a strong start with openers Hayley Matthews (47) and Stafanie Taylor (44) adding 61 runs for the first wicket in 6.4 overs. Matthews was the more dominating of the two and did bulk of the scoring. Her 22-ball 47 included seven boundaries and a six before Poonam Yadav had her caught behind. Taylor anchored the rest of the innings and remained unbeaten. She also put on crucial partnerships with Kycia Knight (16) and Britney Cooper (11). Brief scores: West Indies Women: 139 for four (Hayley Matthews 47, Stafanie Taylor 44 not out; Poonam Yadav 2/25). India Women: 124 for three (Harmanpreet Kaur 60 not out, Veda Krishnamurthy 31 not out).