IND vs WI: Smriti Mandhana finds a support cast, Renuka Singh Thakur gets a five-for in India’s thumping win
There was a sense of new in Vadodara on Sunday. Brand new international stadium, a new ODI kit for India, and Harmanpreet Kaur starting the day by saying at the toss that she feels like a new player making her debut after missing out on the last two T20Is due to an injury. To go well with that setting, it was a refreshingly fresh display of positive cricket by India as they demolished West Indies by 212 runs in the first ODI at the Kotambi Stadium to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. In terms of margin of runs, this was India’s second-biggest win in women’s ODI history.The most familiar aspect for India on the day was Smriti Mandhana continuing her stellar form, on a patch now deeply purple. She missed out on a record-extending fifth ODI century of the year by just 9 runs, but her...
