India's aggression overwhelms West Indies at Newlands

There are three teams who have set themselves apart at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup, with India joining Australia and England, by flexing their power — again — with a dominant win against the West Indies at Newlands on Wednesday. 

The trio have delivered performances in the opening week of the tournament that has illustrated an aggressive style with the bat, which is set to transform the women’s game as it enters an intriguing era, where, thanks to the Women’s Premier League (WPL), players are set to earn lucrative paydays. 

If the WPL along with the other big franchise tournaments for women in England and Australia is to capture the imagination of the public, it will need the players to perform in the manner that the ‘big three’ nations have started this World Cup.

Australia and England have picked up big wins by playing an attacking style, with the English even likening their way to the men’s team’s ‘Bazball’, quipping it should be called ‘Jonball’ in honour of coach Jon Lewis.

India made short work of knocking off the West Indies’ mediocre target of 119, reaching it for the loss of four wickets with 11 balls to spare. 

Like they did against Pakistan on Sunday, it was the intent with which they played that proved too much for the 2016 champions on a blustery day in Cape Town. 

Shafali Verma, signalled that intent immediately bludgeoning three boundaries in the first over bowled by Shamilia Connell.

That the Indians didn’t build on that start in the power play is something that they will pore over in the post-match debrief. They too, like the West Indies batters earlier, struggled to create pace in their shot-making, especially when the slower bowlers were employed. 

However, even in Verma’s dismissal, a power sweep that sent the ball flying down Afy Fletcher’s throat at deep backward square leg, India displayed their attacking strategy. Richa Ghosh finished on 44 not out off 32 balls, further underlining India’s strength and their batting depth. 

By contrast the West Indies looked listless, both with bat and then in the field. They did seem to give themselves the perfect foundation with Stafanie Taylor and Shemaine Campbelle sharing a partnership of 73 for the second wicket after Hayley Matthews had chosen to bat. 

The veteran Taylor, who unfortunately had to be transported off the field on a stretcher later in the match when she suffered back spasms, top scored with 42, while Campbelle made 30. 

Unfortunately their dismissals came three balls apart and meant India could create pressure on a tricky surface against new batters.

It was the crafty Deepti Sharma who took both of those wickets, as part of a delightful spell in which she picked up 3/15 and in the process became the first Indian player — male or female — to claim 100 T20 International wickets.