India women steamrolled West Indies women in the third and final ODI of the series to register a 3-0 sweep on Friday, December 27. Led by a sensational bowling display by Renuka Singh Thakur and Deepti Sharma, the hosts bowled the Windies out for 162 before gunning down the target with five wickets in hand. With this, West Indies have also failed to earn a direct qualification spot in next year's ODI World Cup 2025.
India had already registered a 2-0 series win and had a chance to cap off the series and the year with a series sweep. Renuka and Deepti ran apart the Windies batting line-up as they shared all the 10 wickets among them. Deepti took 6/31 in her 10 overs and became the first Indian women's player with three five-wicket hauls in the format. She was earlier tied with Ekta Bisht, Neetu David and Jhulan Goswami for two five-wicket hauls each.
Additionally, Deepti has become the first Indian and second in the world to take multiple six-wicket hauls in ODIs. She had earlier bagged 6/20 in 9.2 overs during an ODI against Sri Lanka women in 2016.
Meanwhile, Renuka also had a historic outing of her own. The speedster has become the first Indian bowler to dismiss both opposition openers for a duck in an ODI match. She was the one who began to take apart the Windies line-up.
On a foggy morning after the visitors opted to bat first, Renuka took out opener Qiana Joseph on the first ball when the left-hander gloved a harmless delivery down the leg side. The speedster then got Windies skipper Hayley Mattews on the final ball of the over as she cleaned her up. While she took a couple more, Deepti ran mad over the Windies line-up, taking as many as six wickets.
India had a meagre total in front of them but they lost two early wickets in Smriti Mandhana and last match's centurion Harleen Deol with the scoreline on 23 in 6.1 overs. Youngster Pratika Rawal, playing in her first series, also fell on 18.
However, experienced batters Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh contributed well. Captain Kaur made 32 while putting mini stands with Jemimah and Pratika. Jemimah also played her hand well for 29, while Deepti and Richa went unbeaten on 39 and 23, respectively, to take the team home.
