Matthews leads the charge as WI Women draw level – Talking Points

When the visiting skipper Hayley Matthews won the toss and opted to bowl, she had just one thing on her mind - level the three-match T20I series.

And when India crawled to 159/9, she knew that her team was well and truly in the game.

Thereafter, opening the innings, Matthews led the charge with a brilliant 85 (47) as the visitors romped home with 26-balls to spare on Tuesday night in Mumbai and along the way, leveled the three-match T20I series.

Here are the talking points.

Indian batting woes resurface

While the India top-order flourished in first game, they were a pale shadow tonight.

Barring Smriti Mandhana (62 from 41 balls), no one else got going.

Uma Chetry, Jemimah Rodrigues and Raghvi Bisht perished leaving India in trouble at 48/3.

Deepti Sharma and Mandhana did stitch together a partnership but after the former fell, the going was tough.

Had it not been for a late flourish from Richa Ghosh who scored a swashbuckling 17-ball 32, the hosts would have struggled to put up 159.

Harmanpreet Kaur injured

Kaur, the Indian skipper, who suffered a bump to the knee when batting in the first game, sat this one out and Smriti Mandhana stepped in to lead the side.

This meant that Raghvi Bist earned her India cap.

Bist had a stellar tour of Australia just last month with the India-A squad and also scored heavily in the recent T20 Challenger Trophy.

Incidentally, the Uttarakhand allrounder was on Sunday picked by the Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

Bist, however, lasted just eight balls and was trapped in front by Afy Fletcher.

Wickets at regular intervals

Deandra Dottin, hot on the heels of her selection in the WPL, bowled a tight spell of 14/2 from the four overs. She accounted for Uma Chetry and the dangerous Richa Ghosh.

Additionally, the West Indies did well to pick up wickets at regular intervals and arrest any attempts that India made at accelerating the run rate.

India lost the first three wickets under 9-overs and the next four in a span of five overs between the 13th and the 18th.

This way, they denied the hosts any form of momentum.

A blistering 47-ball 85* from West Indies all-rounder Hayley Matthews sinks India in the second T20 international in Navi Mumbai 🏏

Series tied at 1-1, with one match to go!#Cricket #CricketTwitter #INDvsWI pic.twitter.com/In4HDhgjnW

— The Bridge (@the_bridge_in) December 17, 2024

Hurricane Hayley Matthews

Once India were restricted to 159, skipper Matthews knew the they held the advantage.

With the dew making bowling difficult under lights, batting second was always going to be easier.

That said, the runs still had to be scored and Matthews did just that.

With seventeen astounding hits to fence, the West Indies skipper struck at 180.85 en-route to an outstanding 85 from just 47 balls.

Qiana Joseph (38 from 22-balls) and Shemaine Campbelle (29 from 26-balls) ensured that Matthews had good company as the West Indies overhauled India’s total with 26-balls to spare.

What’s next

With the three-match series now all square, the focus will now shift to the decider on the 19th.

For India, who just returned from an abysmal tour of Australia, winning the series decider would restore some of their lost confidence.