BASSETERRE, St Kitts (CMC) – Mithali Raj and Amita Sharma stroked half-centuries to steer India to a comfortable 76-run victory over West Indies in their opening One-Day International of the three-match series here yesterday.
Sent in, India reached 179 for seven off their allotted 50 overs with Raj getting the top score of 57 and Sharma contributing an unbeaten 51.
Raj faced 119 balls and hit four fours while Sharma faced 72 balls and counted two fours.
Off-spinner Anisa Mohammed finished with three for 41.
West Indies’ reply never got off the ground and they were bundled out for a hugely disappointing 103 off 46.5 overs.
Opener Juliana Nero hit 23 and Deandra Dottin, 20, but the Windies struggled as left-arm spinners Ekta Bist (3-18) and Gouhar Sultana (2-9) spun a web around the regional batsmen.
It was a sign of things to come when prolific opener Stafanie Taylor fell cheaply for one with the score on four, caught at the wicket off seamer Sharma.
Nero and Shanel Daley (8) added 29 for the second wicket but once Daley also fell to a catch at the wicket, wickets tumbled regularly to leave the Windies women on 56 for four.
The experienced Nero faced 41 balls and struck four fours before following Daley quickly afterwards at 33 for three.
Dottin, whose knock required 35 balls and included two fours, put on 22 for the fourth wicket with captain Merissa Aguilleira (9) but this stand was ended when Bist had the skipper stumped.
Dottin and Stacy-Ann King staged a last stand, adding 24 for the fifth wicket but once Dottin was taken at cover by Harmanpreet Kaur trying to hit Sultana over the top, the innings tailed away.
Earlier, India were off to a poor start, losing Naik for one with the score on nine, caught at cover by Dottin off medium pacer Pearl Etienne in the third over.
Captain Anjum Chopra fell next with the score on 30 but Raj and Madhuri Metha (23) posted 41 for the third wicket to steady the innings.
Three wickets then tumbled in quick succession for the addition of just four runs, paving the way for an exciting stand of 74 for the sixth wicket between Raj and Sharma.

INDIA innings
M. Metha c King b Mohammed 23
S. Naik c Dottin b Selman 1
A. Chopra c wkp. Aguilleira b Daley 8
M. Raj c King b Mohammed 57
H. Kaur lbw b Mohammed 0
V. Krishnamurthy run out 4
A. Sharma not out 51
J. Goswami run-out 9
E. Bist not out 4
Extras: (b-1, w-18, nb-3) 22
Total: (7 wkts, 50 overs) 179
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-30, 3-71, 4-71, 5-75, 6-149, 7-164.
Bowling: Selman 4-0-11-1, Etienne 5-0-19-0, Daley 10-1-32-1, Taylor 10-2-27-0, Mohammed 10-1-41-3, Campbelle 6-0-24-0, King 5-0-25-0.

WEST INDIES innings
S. Taylor c wkp. Naik b A Sharma 1
J. Nero stp. Naik b Bist 23
S. Daley c wkp. Naik b Bist 8
D. Dottin c Kaur b Sultana 20
M. Aguilleira stp. Naik b Bist 9
S. King c Krishnamurthy b Das 16
B. Cooper c Raj b Sultana 1
S. Campbelle c wkp. Naik b Goswami 1
A. Mohammed not out 13
S. Selman run-out 6
P Etienne run-out 0
Extras: (lb-1, w-4) 5
Total: (all out, 46.5 overs) 103
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-33, 3-34, 4-56, 5-80, 6-80, 7-81, 8-84, 9-99.
Bowling: Goswami 10-2-21-1, A Sharma 5-0-13-1, Kaur 3-0-17-0, Bist 9-4-18-3, Das 10-2-24-1, Sultana 9.5-3-9-2.