Indian women's team clinches ODI series after comprehensive win - Talking points

The Indian women's cricket team clinched the One-Day International (ODI) series against West Indies following a comprehensive 115-run victory over the visitors in the second ODI, in Vadodara on Tuesday.

Thanks to a brilliant century from Harleen Deol, who scored 115 (103b, 16x4s), and opener Pratika Rawal's 76 (86b, 10x4s, 1x6), India posted 358 for 5 wickets in 50 overs, its highest ODI score in women's cricket.

Chasing a mammoth total, the West Indies batting never got going apart from captain Hayley Matthews, who scored a fighting 106 (109b, 13x4s), and the team could only score 243, resulting in a 115-run defeat.

By winning two ODIs in a row, they have wrapped up the series but will look to end the year on a high when they face West Indies in the third and final ODI two days later.

Indian batting stands tall, at long last

After a disappointing ODI series Down Under, where the Indian women lost 0-3 to the Aussies, a lot of questions were raised about their batting, and they have been answered in this series.

After a strong showing in the T20I series, which India won 2-1 with the batting looking solid, the pattern has continued in the ODI series as well, with India posting 300 plus totals in both ODIs.

With a record-breaking score of 358, the highest ODI score for Indian women in ODI cricket, things have finally started to look up for India in the batting department.

Pratika, Harleen, and Jemimah take the onus

For a very long time, Indian batting has largely relied on Smriti Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur.

But now, it looks like other batters are starting to take up the responsibility of scoring and it bodes well for Indian cricket, especially with the 2025 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup looming large.

Even when Smriti got out today after making a wonderful 53 (47b, 7x4s, 2x6s), Pratika Rawal and Harleen Deol took the innings through the middle overs by intelligent cricket, punishing the loose balls and running hard between wickets.

When Jemimah came in, she adapted to her new attacking role, scoring a brisk 52 off 36 balls (6x4s, 1x6).

Only time will tell if India will continue this streak of the entire batting lineup pitching in, rather than being completely reliant on the two stalwarts.

Is there a way back for Shafali Verma?

Before the Australia tour, the selectors made a bold call of discarding Shafali from the squad, and they continued with this decision in the T20 and ODI series against West Indies as well.

While Shafali has made the headlines after scoring 197 from just 115 balls in the ongoing senior women's One-Day trophy, India seemed to have found a way in the batting without her.

Given that the World Cup is right around the corner, the continued snub of the ace opener continues to pose the question: Is the Indian team management looking beyond Shafali?

At a rudimentary level, Shafali should make her way back into the ODI squad, and her run-scoring spree in the domestic circuit will further boost her chance of making a comeback. It will be interesting to see how the selectors go about this situation.

The captains talk

Harmanpreet Kaur was all smiles after the match, especially with her team's batting department.

"The way our openers gave us the start, after that Harleen's batting and Jemi was also there to support the team. Really happy with the way we batted," she said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

She also lauded the bowling unit, saying "Our bowlers are doing well. In between, we leaked a few runs but then Deepti came back, kept the runs down and then Titas came back and picked up a wicket from the other end."

West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews was appreciative of the way the Indians batted, saying "You never really want to finish an innings chasing 350-plus. Kudos to their batters, they have talented players who have stepped up."

"Bittersweet being on the losing end, but good to spend some time in the middle and hopefully I can use that to my advantage in the next match," she added.

What next for Team India?

The third and final ODI of this series will be played on December 27, and the West Indies will look at that match with the same kind of importance since every win counts in the qualification for the 2025 World Cup.