Deepti Sharma's 6-fer headlines India’s big win over West Indies

The Indian women put on a show as they completed a clean sweep of the Windies in Vadodara, riding high on the imperious all-round brilliance of Deepti Sharma. Winning the toss, West Indies opted to bat first and were jolted to a rude awakening, courtesy of RCB ace quick, Renuka Singh.

Qiana Joseph and West Indies captain Hayley Matthews returned to the pavilion without troubling the scorers at all as Renuka breathed fire in the center. Despite Shemaine Campbell’s resilience at the other end, Renuka’s third strike saw the back of a seasoned Deandra Dottin (5), reducing the visitors to 9/3.

However, West Indies clawed their way back through a resilient display from Shemaine Campbell (46) and Chinelle Henry (61), as the duo added 91 runs for the fourth wicket. Deepti Sharma managed to break the partnership with the crucial scalp of Campbell and that was just prying the floodgates open.

The hosts waited no more to storm through as they claimed the last six Windies scalps for a paltry 62 runs. Deepti Sharma led the charge for India with figures of 6/31 while registering three maiden overs and was aptly complemented by Renuka Singh who had four wickets to her name.

Despite the early fall of Smriti Mandhana (4) and Harleen Deol (1), India managed to stabilize the ship through Pratika Rawal (18) and Harmanpreet Kaur (32), priming their cannons for a latter flourish. Jemimah Rodrigues (29) and Deepti Sharma (39*) started driving the Indian juggernaut towards the finish line.

West Indies did manage to sneak a brake in the form of Jemimah’s wicket but an incoming Richa Ghosh clubbed a whirlwind 23 to take the hosts across the finishing line. Wickets did tumble at the other end but India safely glided home with five wickets to spare. Deepti Sharma was the Player of the Match for her all-round brilliance while Renuka Singh Thakur won the Player of the Series award.