St John's: In a thrilling One Day International match west Indies women defeated India women by one run in the first ODI of the three-match series here at the North Sound Stadium on Friday.
Chasing 226, India's openers Jemimah Rodrigues and Priya Punia provided a steady start and put on 78 runs for the first wicket. Their partnership was broken in the 22nd over as Stafanie Taylor dismissed Rodrigues (41).
Poonam Raut came out to bat next and she had a partnership of 46 runs with Punia, but West Indies once again got a breakthrough at a crucial juncture as Raut (22) was run-out.
Captain Mithali Raj next came out to the middle and she along with Punia, stitched together a stand of 46 runs. India had a big setback as Punia (75) was sent back to the pavilion in the 40th over, with the team still 56 runs away from the target.
After Punia's dismissal, India lost wickets in a cluster and were 217/9 in the final over with the team still requiring nine more runs for a win.