IND-W vs WI-W, Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 Warm-Up: India Women started their ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2026 campaign on a high note by defeating West Indies Women by 26 runs in their first warm-up match at Sophia Gardens on June 8, 2026. The Women in Blue, with a blistering, unbeaten half-century from middle-order batter Bharti Fulmali and a lethal spin-bowling display, successfully defended a commanding total to set the tone early on in the tournament.
The Caribbean side won the toss and asked India to bat first. The Indian opening pair of stand-in skipper Smriti Mandhana and explosive Shafali Verma gave a flying start. Mandhana was the chief architect, scoring a fluent 39 off 29 balls, with eight elegant boundaries to exploit a wayward opening spell from the West Indian pacers. The openers put together a quickfire 59-run stand to take India to a strong 70/1 at the end of the Powerplay.
But the momentum was checked by a sudden middle-order slump as India lost quick wickets in the next few overs. With an on-rest captain Harmanpreet Kaur, Bharti Fulmali came to the fore and anchored the innings with absolute composure. Fulmali teamed up with Yastika Bhatia (26) for an important 60-run consolidation stand. Bhatia retired out later to give the lower-order valuable match practice but Fulmali went on the counter-attack in the death overs. She slammed six boundaries and a six in a commanding 56 not out off 40 balls to take India to a commanding 179/8. The lone bright spark with the ball for West Indies was 39-year-old veteran Afy Fletcher who had brilliant figures of 4/23.
The West Indies reply well, returning superstar Deandra Dottin and Shemaine Campbelle getting the innings off to a flier, adding 63 for the first wicket. But failed to show the scoring urgency needed for the daunting chase, managing only 37 runs in the Powerplay.
Campbelle was out and from there the slow bowlers of India engineered a huge collapse and the turning point had come. Shreyanka Patil, the young off-spin prodigy, dealt a double blow in the 11th over, carving up the Caribbean middle-order with surgical precision. Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav then really turned up the pressure, getting a dangerous Dottin out just one run short of her fifty.
The spin twins took seven wickets between them to completely choke the West Indies chase, restricting them to a modest 153/8 in their allotted 20 overs. Meanwhile, the Indian contingent heads into the main event brimming with confidence, having carried forward the momentum of their historic ODI World Cup triumph earlier this year, after the comprehensive all-round team performance.
Debayan Bhattacharyya is a seasoned sports journalist and digital media professional, currently serving as the Chief Sub Editor at ITV Digital (NewsX). A true Football-Fanatic Bong, his professional journey began at Zee Media, where he kicked off his career as a Sub-Editor for the sports team at India.com and CricketCountry. His ability to blend insightful analysis with rapid-fire news delivery soon led him to Times Network, where he served as a Senior Copy Editor for Times Now. Before his current role at NewsX, Debayan spent a significant tenure at OneIndia’s MyKhel as a Senior Sub Editor.
