New Delhi: Richa Ghosh touched the world record mark for the fastest half century in women’s T20Is (18 balls) as her 54-run knock together with Smriti Mandhana’s 47-ball 77 helped India to a series win with a 60-run win over West Indies in the third and final match in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
Ghosh and Mandhana’s bold hitting took India to 217/4 in 20 overs after West Indies won the toss and opted to bowl. It was India’s highest total in 20-over cricket, improving on 201/5 they scored against the UAE in Asia Cup earlier this year.
The 21-year-old Ghosh scored 54 off 21 balls with the help of three boundaries and five sixes to level the quickest fifty mark of New Zealand’s Sophie Devine and Australia’s Phoebe Litchfield.
Before Ghosh’s explosion, Mandhana struck her third successive half century in the series as he became the leading run-getter in T20Is this year with 763 runs in 23 matches, moving ahead of Sri Lanka skipper Chamari Athapaththu in the list.
In reply, West Indies could only reach 157/9, with Radha Yadav claiming 4/29. Deandra Dottin scored 25 off 17 balls to be the top score for the touring team.
But they never looked loke coming anywhere close to the big score of India after losing wickets at regular intervals.
Dominant show by Indian batters
India failed to post a big score in their loss in the second game. But on Thursday, they were on the front foot from the very beginning as Mandhana took charge.
She displayed a wide range of strokes as India scored at nearly 10 runs an over despite Uma Chetry departing for a two-ball duck in the first over.
Jemimah Rodrigues (39, 28 balls) began slowly but gradually picked up pace with four boundaries to build a solid platform with a 98-runs stand off 55 balls with Mandhana.
Raghvi Bisht (31 not out, 22 balls, 2x4s, 1x6s) carried on the momentum, complementing Mandhana and Ghosh, adding 44 and 70 runs respectively with them.
Though Mandhana was dismissed in the 15th over, keeper-batter Ghosh intensified the run plundering, hitting the ball way back into the stands at the DY Patil stadium.
Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghish struck half centuries as India beat West Indies by 60 runs in the third and final T20I to win series 2-1 in women’s cricket Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
