Jemimah Rodrigues, bowlers power India to series-clinching win
Despite posting a small total, West Indies would have somewhat fancied their chances after a superb opening spell from Hayley Mathews, during which she accounted for the openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana, to reduce India to 13/2 in Providence.
However, Rodrigues played the situation masterfully. She focussed on rotating the strike on a pitch that was difficult to score quickly on. She kept her cool even after captain Harmanpreet Kaur was removed by Afy Fletcher for a painstaking 19-ball seven.
For her unbeaten 40 off 51 balls including 4x4, @JemiRodrigues has been named Player of the Match of the 3rd T20I. pic.twitter.com/V7ki0blVMB
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) November 15, 2019
Rodrigues' patience yielded rewards as she scored four fours in her 51-ball unbeaten stay, which saw India home with seven wickets and 20 balls to spare. The victory also gave India the series with two games to spare in the five-match series. Deepti Sharma was at the other end when Rodrigues scored the winning run, but her key contribution had come with the ball.
In another brilliant display, she picked 2/12 in her four overs to help keep the hosts from garnering momentum during their innings. But it was a collective effort from the Indians. Radha Yadav was the star of the show, with astounding figures of 2/6 from four overs.
Things didn't begin too well for West Indies, with Mathews falling after scoring one boundary, spooning a catch back to Anuja Patil for 5. Wickets continued to tumble every time the batters tried to up the scoring.
🌴v🇮🇳
— Windies Cricket (@windiescricket) November 15, 2019
India Women win by 7 wickets. They go 3-0 in the T20I Series. #WIWvINDW pic.twitter.com/F2rUnXamxH
Chedean Nation and Chinelle Henry were the top-scorers for West Indies, making 11 runs each. No other batter got into double figures.
The fourth of the five T20Is will be played at the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Sunday, 17 November.