Raghvi Bist makes her debut as Windies choose to field in second T20I

West Indies skipper Hayley Matthews won the toss and chose to bowl first in the second T20I at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. 

Uttarakhand ace batter Raghvi Bist is making her debut for India in the second T20I as Harmanpreet Kaur wasn’t fit enough to start for India due to a knee niggle. Bist, who was earlier seen in the India A tour of Australia, has impressed with her performances Down Under and in domestic cricket. As she bats in the middle order for Uttarakhand, she won’t have any issues in slotting in Harmanpreet’s spot. 

The Indian women had a good start to the T20I series after winning the first T20I comfortably by 49 runs. Jemimah Rodrigues (73 off 35) and Titas Sadhu (3/37) starred in that win; however, India would be happy to see Uma Chetry's intent at the top. The young keeper batter from Assam would love to make the most of that opportunity at the top of the order. Smriti Mandhana is in great form, and she won’t have to bear the burden of run-scoring alone with Chetry batting like that. 

Meanwhile, the West Indies have made two changes to their team from the first T20I—off-spinner Ashmini Munisar replaces right-arm pacer Shamilia Connell, and Nerissa Crafton makes her debut and will add to the middle order batting for her team after replacing Mandy Mangru. 

Playing XIs

India women: Smriti Mandhana(C) , Uma Chetry, Jemimah Rodrigues, Raghvi Bist (in place of Harmanpreet Kaur), Richa Ghosh(WK), Sajana S, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Saima Thakor, Titas Sadhu, Renuka Singh Thakur

West Indies women: Hayley Matthews(C), Qiana Joseph, Shemaine Campbelle(WK), Deandra Dottin, Chinelle Henry, Nerissa Crafton (in place of Mandy Mangru), Shabika Gajnabi, Zaida James, Afy Fletcher, Karishma Ramharack, Ashmini Munisar (in place of Shamilia Connell)

Skippers speak

Smriti Mandhana: We were looking to field because of the dew factor. We will help our bowlers to defend the total. We have been forced to make one change. Harman had a niggle. She has been rested. Hopefully, she will be fit. Raghvi has done well with the India A side against Australia. She bowls handy medium pace with a very interesting action. 

Hayley Matthews: We will have a bowl. The conditions will suit. We will look to improve on areas. It is a matter of execution for us. Probably We weren't as ready as we should have been. We have two changes. 

Pitch report

WV Raman said there is a little bit of grass on the surface. It is a good enough wicket for batting and doesn't think the batters will face any problems. He also shared that a bit of grass has been shaved off in the afternoon and dew factor will come into play later in the evening.

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