CLASSY half-centuries from Veeda Krishnamurthy and Jemimah Rodrigues piloted India women  to a thumping 61-run win over West Indies, sealing off a commanding T20 series win with a bang on Wednesday night.

India piled up a daunting 134 for 3 in their 20 overs, after capitalising on the 117-run partnership between Krishnamurthy who stroked 4 fours in her unbeaten 48-ball 57.

Her partner in crime, Rodrigues supported well with three fours in her even 50, as the Windies bowling proved ineffective yet again with Hayley Matthews, Aaliyah Allen and skipper Anisa Mohammed ending with a wicket each.

It was another below-par performance by the hosts who were left to ponder as much after ending on 73-7 when their 20 overs expired. Kyshona Knight hit 22 and Guyanese vice-captain Shamaine Campbelle ended on 19 not out, to headline a shoddy batting performance.

Indian off-spinner Anuja Patil was the star with ball in hand, grabbing stingy figures of 2-8 as she landed double strikes to remove opener Natasha McLean (9), who opened her account with a big six, and Chedean Nation (0).

The in-form Poonam Yadav (1-15) got into the action by dismissing Chinelle Henry for 6 before Matthews had her stumps disturbed by a beauty from Pooja Vastrakar (1-14); leaving the Windies reeling at 31 for 4.

After top-scorer Knight was removed by off-spinner Harleen Deol (1-13), the wheels began to fall off the Windies, as their last 5 overs required them to go at 10-plus runs an over, in order to have a chance at victory.

Spinner Radha Yadav served up a `beauty’ to account for the dismissal of Guyanese Sheneta Grimmond (5) before running out Shabika Gajnabi  for 3. Hayley Matthews was dismissed  for 2 leaving Campbell on 19 and Aaliyah Alleyne on 1 still at the crease when the 20 overs expired 

Earlier in the night, after hitting a six, India’s leading run-scorer 15-year-old Shafali Verma was caught-and-bowled by Matthews while skipper Mohammed removed her opposite number Smritri Mandhana for 7.

With both openers back in the dressing room with just 17 on the board, Rodrigues and Krishnamurthy applied themselves. The pair took India past the 50-run mark with some well-timed boundaries which lifted the spirits in the Indian camp.

A continuation of effective stroke-play saw the team’s 100 come up in 16.4 overs with Krishnamurthy casually creeping towards her half-century. Rodrigues soon after making 50 was bowled by Allen, breaking the century partnership.

Following the match, the Indians also made a clean sweep of the awards, adding a number of individual awards to their T20 Trophy. Krishnamurthy was adjudged MVP for her fifty while the 15-year-old sensation Verma ended as the leading run-scorer with 158 runs from her 5 matches and bagged the coveted Player-of-the-Series award. (Clifton Ross)