Aguilleira gives West Indies series lead

West Indies Women 84 for 6 (Aguilleira 39*) beat India Women 83 for 7 (Raj 27, Taylor 2-16) by four wickets
Scorecard

West Indies captain Merissa Aguilleira fought a hamstring injury to score an unbeaten 39 and guide her team home in a tense, low-scorer at Windsor Park. India made only 83, but West Indies were made to fight till the end, winning with two balls to spare.

Aguilleira walked in with her team in trouble at 10 for 3, after Ekta Bisht and Amita Sharma made early inroads. She found support from Deandra Dottin, who made 16. Aguilleira, who had to receive treatment for her injury, faced 48 balls and hit two fours.

For India, opener Mithali Raj top scored with 27 but the middle order struggled to push on against the spin duo of Anisa Mohammed and Stafanie Taylor. Taylor finished with 2 for 16, while Mohammed took 1 for 19.

Speaking after the match, Aguilleira said she took it on herself to shoulder the responsibility: "I had to fight really hard today. I had to be brave. I had to fight the pain. My hamstring gave me some problems but we will have that fixed and I will be ready for tomorrow's match. I am well pleased that I was able to stay at the crease and do the job for the team. We were in a hole and as captain I knew I had to stand there and bat to the end.

"It is always good to lead from the front. Today we lost some early wickets but we still had plenty time in the game when I went in. I am not a power-hitter so I was able to settle in and work the ball into the gaps and build an innings. That was ideal for me … yes, there was the pressure of losing wickets, but time was on my side and I was happy with the way I stayed there and guided the team to victory."

West Indies lead the four-match series 2-1.