Cardiff, June 8 (IANS) An unbeaten half-century from Bharti Fulmalli and a dominant display from spinners Radha Yadav and Shreyanka Patil powered India to a convincing 26-run victory over West Indies in their opening warm-up match ahead of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 in Cardiff on Monday.

Following their historic ICC Women’s Cricket World Cup victory earlier this year, a complete performance from India saw them start their T20 World Cup preparations on a high after posting 179/8 before bowling out West Indies for 153/8. Fulmalli was the main anchor in India’s innings, making an unbeaten 56 off 40 deliveries, whilst Radha and Shreyanka shared seven wickets between them to cut short the Caribbean chase.

Invited to bat, India’s openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma put on a rapid 59, with Mandhana leading the way with a 39-ball 39, inclusive of 8 boundaries after a slow start from the West Indian pacers who couldn’t find a regular rhythm. India reached 70/1 in the Power-play with the loss of Mandhana.

However, a slight wobble in the middle of the innings saw India lose three wickets in rapid succession before Fulmalli and Yastika Bhatia put together a solid 60-run stand for the fourth wicket. Bhatia looked in good touch until she retired out at 36 balls with 26 runs as part of an effort to get runs in the middle order, with India losing Ghosh and Radha within the space of the same over.

Fulmalli saw India home, with the opener smashing six boundaries and a six in a powerful 40-ball innings to guide India to a strong total. Afy Fletcher was the only bowler to distinguish herself as the West Indies attack looked to lack sting for most of the innings, as she recorded 4/23 from her four overs.

In reply, Deandra Dottin and Shemaine Campbelle offered resistance in the early stages, putting together a 63-run opening stand, but were way behind the rate and only managed 37 runs in the powerplay. The turning point of the innings came after the dismissal of Campbelle, who walked off, and it signalled the beginning of a middle-order collapse.

The spinners turned a positive start into a struggling 103/6. Shreyanka took the honours, with a brilliant 4/36, whilst Radha also took a superb 3/25, with the spinners extracting a great amount of turn from the pitch.

Dottin looked as though she would keep the chase alive with a 49-ball 41, but departed 1 run shy of a half-century. Though Alleyne and Shawnisha Hector gave India a scare, the visitors never really troubled India’s total.

Brief scores:

India Women 179/8 in 20 overs (Bharti Fulmali 56, Smriti Mandhana 39; Afy Fletcher 4-23, Aliyah Alleyne 1-17) beat West Indies Women 153/8 in 20 overs (Deandra Dottin 49, Shemaine Campbelle 25; Shreyanka Patil 4-36, Radha Yadav 3-25) by 26 runs.

–IANS

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