ICC Women's World Cup
India 186-3 beat West Indies 183-8 by seven wickets
INDIA secured their second win of the Women's World Cup with a dominant display against the West Indies at the County Ground in Taunton.
It was the second World Cup match played in Somerset, and again it featured the Windies - who were outclassed by Australia on Monday, and were outplayed again today.
India won the toss and put their opponents into bat, the Windies reaching 29 in the sixth over before losing their first wicket, Felicia Walters going for nine.
Hayley Matthews (43) and captain Stafanie Taylor (16) stayed together for 12 overs but were struggling to score against a tight Indian bowling attack, and after Matthews' departure at 69-2 they collapsed to 80-4 and then 91-6.
Shanel Daley hit 33 and Afy Fletcher 36no (including three 4s off the final three balls of the innings) to drag the Windies total up to 183-8, but it never looked likely to be enough.
Poonam took 2-19 off 10 overs, Deepti Sharma 2-27 off 10 and Harmanpreet Kaur 2-42 off seven for India.
The Windies gave themselves a glint of hope by dismissing Poonam Raut for a duck in the first innings of India's reply, and Sharma went for six at 33-2.
But Smriti Mandhana and skipper Mithali Raj built the match-winning partnership, with a steady trickle of singles and the occasional boundary that moved them towards the target with increasing momentum.
Raj fell just short of her eighth consecutive one-day international half-century, going for 46, but there was no stopping Mandhana.
Joined by Mona Meshram (18no), she secured her century and then the match-winning runs, to end on 106no off 108 balls (13 4s and two 6s).
Win for India by seven wickets! 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 #WWC17 #WIvIND #Taunton pic.twitter.com/Y6IWP0xeXv
— CountyGazetteRich (@CGazette_Rich) June 29, 2017
Taylor (1-24 off 10 overs) and Matthews (1-35 off 8.3) were the pick of the Windies bowlers.
India played a smart game, with shots that were more effective than flashy, and with this win following victory over England, they're looking in good shape to challenge.
***
THE other World Cup match held on Thursday saw reigning champions Australia defeat Sri Lanka, despite Chamari Athapaththu's massive 178no off 143 balls.
The Southern Stars chased down Sri Lanka's 257-9 for the loss of only two wickets, as captain Meg Lanning starred with an unbeaten 152 in her side's 262-2.
Like India, Australia have won two from two at the tournament.
As for Sri Lanka, their next match is in Taunton, where they face host nation England (Sunday, July 2, 10.30am start).
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