Women’s T20 World Cup: India-W beat West Indies-W, 2nd straight win at World Cup

Teenage wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh guided India-W to a second victory in two games at the Women’s T20 World Cup on Wednesday as her mature finishing overshadowed the return of star Smriti Mandhana. Opener Mandhana, who became the most expensive player at this week’s Women’s Premier League auction, was out for 10 on her comeback from a finger injury as India-W chased the West Indies’ modest 118-6 at Newlands in Cape Town.

India-W was 43-3 in the eighth over when the 19-year-old Ghosh arrived at the crease, and she stroked five fours and constructed a 72-run stand with captain Harmanpreet Kaur (33) to take their team home. Kaur was out just before the end, leaving Ghosh to smack a short ball through square leg for four for the winning runs. India-W went level with England at the top of Group 2, with the English in first place on net run rate.

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Richa Ghosh helps India-W-W with another match-winning knock

They will meet in a top-of-the table match on Saturday, the highest profile game at the tournament so far. India-W beat Pakistan in its opening game, when Ghosh also showed her value with 31 not out to help seal victory. “She (Ghosh) has been great for us,” Kaur said. “She is someone who can always pull the game for us. She is a very dangerous batter. She can express herself. We are happy with the results and the next game is very important. (We) just want to continue the rhythm.”

A partnership of 73 for the second wicket between Stafanie Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle (30) threatened to set West Indies up for a good total but the late-innings acceleration never came. India-W spinner Deepti Sharma claimed both their wickets in her 3-15 and West Indies struggled from a good position at 77-1 to a below-par total. Here in South Africa, they have come with a weapon that is going to take down attacks with ease. A Richa Ghosh-sized weapon.

The only academic interest at that stage was how quickly could India get to the target and thereby stand a chance of overhauling England to the top spot in Group B on the basis of net run rate. True to expectations, India went hard at the start, but once they lost Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Shafali Verma inside eight overs, they focused on just getting the job done. And Richa, in the company of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, did exactly that, stitching a 72-run partnership for the fourth wicket before the captain perished with four runs needed.