Innings break West Indies 162 (Henry 61, Campbelle 46, Deepti 6-31, Renuka 4-29) vs India
Henry, playing her first ODI of the series, struggled early on as she walked in to bat in the fifth over with the score reading 9 for 3. Like she’s often done in swinging conditions, Renuka proved menacing with her late movement and was rewarded with a four-for, two of those in the very first over.
Her first was Qiana Joseph as she tickled one down leg to Richa Ghosh. But when umpire K Swaroopanand raised the finger almost as an afterthought, it elicited much surprise in the Indian camp because they hardly appealed. Off the last ball, Renuka had Hayley Matthews, the centurion from the precious ODI, with a superb in-ducker that veered in wickedly to smash the stumps.
West Indies’ hopes of a revival were now pinned on Deandra Dottin, but she didn’t last long either. This stemmed from wanting to take the attack to Renuka. But her inward movement and angles accounted for Dottin as she was out bowled heaving into the leg side for 5.
Henry struggled to get bat to ball, pottering to 3 off 17 as India kept the pressure up. And then from nowhere, she brought out a release shot for six that appeared to reinvigorate her when she took on debutant left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwar.
It was almost as if that hit unshackled her into bring out some pretty shots from her armoury – playing some neat little cuts and glides, most impressive of the lot coming off Renuka’s bowling as Harmanpreet Kaur brought her back attempting to nip the innings in the bud.
Henry was helped along by Shemaine Campbelle, who showed positivity against spin. She took the attack early to legspinner Priya Mishra, hitting her for three boundaries in her second over. After using her feet to launch into two stunning drives – one down the ground and the other through cover – she rocked back to pull Mishra for a third as she dropped short.
This 91-run stand for the fourth wicket appeared to have revived the visitors as much as it frustrated India. This is when Deepti came into the game and made a telling contribution.
Campbell was consumed by a rush of blood as she was lulled into the big shot by Deepti, only for Pratika Rawal to take a comfortable catch at long-on. In the following over, Zaida James was caught superbly at slip by Harmanpreet as Deepti had her driving from the rough.
It could’ve been a triple-strike for India but for Renuka dropping the simplest of return catches via a leading edge to reprieve Aaliya Alleyne on 0. Alleyne would make only 21, though, falling to a tame chip to short midwicket. Alleyne’s wicket came hot on the heels of Henry’s dismissal for a third ODI half-century when she was out bowled by a straighter one.
West Indies went on to lose their last 5 wickets for 21, leaving a third straight innings where they failed to bat out their full quota of overs. This one was the most challenging of them all, given they were batting first in wintry conditions where there was plenty of moisture the fast bowlers used to their advantage.
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
