Rangiora (New Zealand), Mar 1 (Agency) An all-round India defeated West Indies by 81 runs in a warm-up match of the Women’s Cricket World Cup here on Tuesday. Smriti Mandhana, who was struck on the head in the first practice match, scored 66 runs, while Deepti Sharma played a knock of 51 runs at number three position. Yastika Bhatia (42) and skipper Mithali Raj (30) chipped in too as India posted 258 all out on board after electing to bat. Interestingly, Harmanpreet Kaur, who had registered a century in the first warm-up match against South Africa, did not bat in spite of being available.
For West Indies, Hayley Matthews, Cherry-Ann Fraser and Karishma Ramharack picked two wickets each. In reply, West Indies struggled to open their account against Jhulan Goswami and Meghna Singh in the pacers’ opening spells. Meghana struck early as she dismissed the dangerous Deandra Dottin cheaply for one. West Indies skipper Stafanie Taylor’s (8) was removed by Pooja Vastrakar. Barring Hayley (44) and Shemaine Campelle (63), no other West Indian could manage stay at the crease for long as India restricted West Indies to 177/9. While Vastrakar returned with three wickets, Meghna, Deepti and Rajeshwari Gayakwad took two each. India will begin their World Cup campaign against Pakistan on March 6.