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Dottin, Matthews make easy work of India in series-levelling win
West Indies levelled the T20I series in style, with captain Hayley Mathews at the forefront of a robust batting performance in a nine-wicket thrashing. Matthews hit an unbeaten 85, courtesy 17 fours, just four less than India’s 21, to help West Indies break a sequence of nine straight T20I losses to India.
Matthews’ brilliance helped cover for a shoddy fielding display in which Oiana Joseph, who also fuelled the chase with 38, put down India’s stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana once, one of three lives she got on the night. However, India’s 159 for 9, in the face of dew and some serious batting muscle in the opposition, was never going to be enough.
India’s inexperienced top order left them wobbling. Deandra Dottin castled Uma Chetry with an in-ducker for 4. Afy Fletcher, who went for 39 in her four overs two nights ago, had debutant Raghvi Bist lbw for 5. In between these two strikes, Jemimah Rodrigues fell attempting to get inside the line and paddle. At 48 for 3 in the ninth over, West Indies had India on the ropes.
India received a massive fillip thanks to some West Indian generosity; they dropped Mandhana three times – twice by Chinelle Henry – between overs 11 to 14. Mandhana would soon run out of luck, though, in the 14th over, but not before raising a second straight half-century, off 37 balls. Between those dropped catches, India hit six fours and a six in a two-over period that fetched 36, going from 72 for 3 in 12 overs to 108 for 4 in 14.
If overs 12 to 14 produced boundaries, the next two applied the skids as West Indies removed Deepti and S Sajana. But Richa Ghosh cut, pulled and flat-batted the spinners to race to 32 off 16. Just as she raised hopes of a sparkling half-century, she was sent back by a flying Shemaine Campbelle behind the stumps, caught as she attempted to scythe Dottin’s yorker.
Then, in the final over, Dottin showed off her athleticism in running at least 20 yards around the long-on fence to pull off a stunning catch on the move to dismiss Radha Yadav.
Joseph made up for her fielding lapses by laying into rookie Titas Sadhu to kickstart the chase. Her fast hands and clean slogging brought her three fours and a six in an 18-run second over. Renuka Singh then came in for punishment as Joseph muscled a monstrous six in a 14-run over. The openers brought up a half-century opening stand inside five overs. Saima Thakor picked up her first T20I wicket when she deceived Joseph with a back-of-the-hand slower ball in the seventh over, but by then the base had been laid with a 66-run stand.
That was to be India’s only moment of comfort on the field as Matthews quickly took charge to raise a 31-ball half-century in an over when she despatched left-armer Radha Yadav for four back-to-back fours. India managed 21 fours and a six in their entire innings. West Indies had matched that boundary count by the 13th over itself to make it one-way traffic. The series couldn’t have been levelled with a more emphatic chase.
Brief scores:
West Indies Women 160 for 1 in 15.4 overs (Hayley Matthews 85*, Oiana Joseph 38, Shemaine Campbelle 29*; Saima Thakor 1-28 ) beat India Women 159 for 9 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 62, Richa gosh 32; Deandra Dottin 2-14, Chinelle Henry 2-37, Hayley Mathews 2-36, Afy Fletcher 2-28) by nine wickets
[Cricinfo]
Will India and Pakistan face each other on February 15 in Colombo?
Even as that question hangs heavy like the thick and suffocating Mumbai smog over the T20 World Cup 2026, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav said his team will travel to Colombo whether the match happens or not.
“Our Mindset is pretty clear,” Suryakumar said at the captains’ media briefing on Thursday in Mumbai. “We did not refuse to play them. The refusal came from them (Pakistan). ICC organised the fixture. BCCI and the Indian government decided to play in neutral venue in coordination with ICC. Our flight to Colombo is booked. So we are going. We’ll see what happens later.”
Defending champions India begin their World Cup campaign on the opening day – February 7 – against USA in Mumbai. India start as firm favourites based on their phenomenal domination in the format in this World Cup cycle. Suryakumar’s team provided further evidence of that on Monday evening in Navi Mumbai where they nudged aside South Africa in the warm-up match. Such form has allowed Suryakumar to be more relaxed and light-hearted during media briefings and same was the case on Thursday.
Asked what the mood in the Indian dressing room was around the Pakistan match, Suryakumar said: “The discussion in the team is ekdum (absolutely) clear. First we play the match on February 7, then we will head to Delhi (Namibia on February 12) and then we will travel to Colombo.”
Suryakumar’s is the first formal response from the India side on the topic, and comes a day after Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said his government had taken a “cons8dered stance” on boycotting the India match and did not want “politics in sport”.
This is the second time in six months Suryakumar has found himself facing questions on how India-Pakistan matches were getting impacted due to the fraught political relations between the two nations, after the Asia Cup controversy last year. The BCCI had instructed the Indian team then to not shake hands with the Pakistan team, at the behest of the Indian government. India then refused to receive the Asia Cup trophy after winning the tournament from ACC president and PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who also declined to hand over the trophy.
Suryakumar said he could not do much about the current situation apart from turning up with his team in Colombo.
“Pakistan’s decision is not in my control,” he said. “I wish I could take that decision. But then it’s their (Pakistan) call. We’ve been told that we have to play on the 15th. We played the Asia Cup, we played three times. We played some good cricket against them. We won. We were happy. And, similarly, if we get an opportunity again in Colombo we will definitely play our game.
“I feel it is not an easy job. I’m sure they must be working out something. But if the boycott has come from the other government or the nation, how can… It is a difficult call for them as well. I know it’ll be a difficult situation. But, as I said, if we are told and the fixtures are ready we will definitely go ahead and play.”
(Cricinfo)
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Delhi Capital’s fourth shot at elusive trophy as Royal Challengers Bengaluru look to make winning a habit
The grand finale of WPL 2026 carries a distinct India-South Africa flavour, much like the World Cup final two months ago. But the epicenter is Vadodara and not Navi Mumbai, the traditional home of Indian women’s cricket. However, that won’t make the occasion any less special.
The marquee names line up symmetrically. Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues on one side; Smriti Mandhana and Richa Ghosh on the other. Marizanne Kapp and Laura Wolvaardt on one side, Nadine de Klerk on the other.
Threading between these big stars are two high-impact overseas allrounders from West Indies and Australia, each having contributed to their team’s journey to the final in their own way.
Chinelle Henry has been an unheralded star for Delhi Capitals (DC). Her three-for in the Eliminator may have gone unnoticed in the larger scheme of things, but it was as important as Shafali and Lizelle Lee’s opening stand or Rodrigues’ cameo. For Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Grace Harris has filled an even larger void. In Ellyse Perry’s absence, she has become the powerplay enforcer, dominating attacks and setting up games for the likes of Ghosh and de Klerk to finish.
The prospect of these two sides pitted against each other in the final seemed an unlikely prospect even during the auction. Mumbai Indians appeared the obvious front runners, having retained the core that delivered two titles in three seasons.
RCB, meanwhile, were without Perry, and when they opted to replace her with an uncapped Indian fast bowler in Sayali Satghare, fully aware that Pooja Vastrakar would be unavailable for much of the season, the knives were out. Satghare has since become a key strand in RCB’s seam attack.
Thursday’s final also brings a contrast to their journeys to the final. RCB took the route DC did for three seasons running – winning six out of their eight games to top the group. DC have scraped through a sequence of must-win games and will now play their third knockout in five days.
DC are chasing that elusive fourth attempt at glory to help bring silverware to a franchise that is yet to win a major; RCB is looking at making winning titles a habit, attempting a hat-trick of wins (IPL included).
In each of the three previous finals, the winner of the Eliminator has gone on to win the title. Will Thursday be any different?
RCB are likely to back Vastrakar to play as a specialist batter. While she has begun bowling in the nets, a call has been taken to ease her in, given she has returned to competitive cricket after 15 months. Arundhati Reddy’s lack of form is the only other area of concern that could potentially bring in legspinner Prema Rawat into the equation.
RCB (probable): Smriti Mandhana (capt), Grace Harris, Georgia Voll, Richa Ghosh (wk), Radha Yadav, Nadine de Klerk, Pooja Vastrakar, Shreyanka Patil, Sayali Satghare, Arundhati Reddy/Prema Rawat, Lauren Bell
DC are likely to be unchanged. In fact the 13 players they’ve used this season are the fewest resources a team has used across four WPL seasons.
DC (probable): Shafali Verma, Lizelle Lee (wk), Laura Wolvaardt, Jemimah Rodrigues (capt), Marizanne Kapp, Chinelle Henry, Niki Prasad, Sneh Rana, Minnu Mani, Nandani Sharma, N Shree Charani
[Cricinfo]
‘Our flight is booked, we’re going’: Suryakumar on India vs Pakistan
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