Women's T20 WC: India secure clinical 6 wicket win to sit at 2nd spot in Group B

Cape Town [South Africa], February 15 (ANI): Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Richa Ghosh showed grit and determination with the bat to help India clinch 6 wicket win over West Indies in the ongoing ICC Womens T20 World Cup 2023 here at Newlands in Cape Town on Wednesday.

Harmanpreet played a gritty knock of 33 while Richa scored an unbeaten 44. For West Indies, Karishma Ramharack bagged two wickets while captain Hayley Matthews and Chinelle Henry claimed one each.

This was India's second consecutive win, helping them take the second spot in Group B. They are tied with England at four points but the English team sits at the top thanks to their superior net run rate.

Harmanpreet heaped praises on wicketkeeper-batsman Richa Ghosh who played a crucial knock and said, "She (Richa) has been great for us. She's someone who can pull the game for us and we are really happy that she is in that touch. We are happy with the two results and want to continue this rhythm in the next game."

Spinner Deepti Sharma made history in the game by taking 3-15 and becoming the first Indian to reach 100 wickets in T20 internationals.

India's bowling attack, inspired by the record-making Sharma, curtailed West Indies after a strong second-wicket partnership had threatened to set up a big first-innings score at Newlands.

"I feel good. What we discussed in the meeting and the plans I had against the West Indies batters, we were able to apply in the middle. That is a milestone and I am happy with the achievement (first Indian to 100 T20I wickets). I am focusing on the rest of the World Cup games. There is a bit of turn in this surface and I focus on bowling stump to stump," shared the ecstatic all-rounder.

The 25-year-old all-rounder has made quite an impact in the international game with her off-breaks and has reached the century of wickets in 89 T20I appearances for her country.

She the pick of the returns from the Indian bowlers, and with the spinner in this sort of form India will fancy their chances of troubling anyone at the tournament.

"We discussed Deepti's bowling in the team meeting and she was not happy with the last game, the bowling coach helped her and today she got the results. It was a great day for us. Whatever we were expecting, we were able to do especially our bowling," expressed the Indian skipper.

This World Cup has not started well for West Indies. Starting with fixtures against England and India was always going to be tough for Hayley Matthews and her side, but two losses mean that it is now extremely unlikely that they will qualify for the knockout stages.

To make matters worse, it was really tough to see Taylor stretchered from the field after picking up an injury, with both sets of players seeming to be impacted by the incident.

And if Matthews is also injured, as it looked as if she could be when she found it hard to move towards the end of the match, then West Indies will be without two of their key players for the games against Pakistan and Ireland still to come.

India will play England on February 18 at St George's Park, Gqeberha and will lock horns against Ireland at the same venue on February 20 in their last group-stage match. (ANI)