Vadodara, India – West Indies Women beat India Women by three wickets on Saturday to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match One-Day International Series.

The Windies girls fought hard to reach 159-7 off 49.2 overs – to win with four balls to spare, after they bowled out the Indians for 156 off 48.2 overs at Reliance Stadium.

The Windies bounced back from their 10-run defeat in the second match, with the spinners doing the job once more. The main wicket-takers were Anisa Mohammed (2-20), Stafanie Taylor (2-21) and Shanel Daley (2-22). Mohammed is the leading bowler in the series with eight wickets at 8.37 each, including best figures of 4-27 in the nine-wicket win in the opening match in Mumbai earlier this week.

When the Windies batted, Taylor again led the way with 46 off 72 balls including seven boundaries. The world-rated teenager added 45 for the first wicket with attacking right-hander Juliana Nero, who made 22 off 31 balls. Taylor has the most runs in the series with 135 runs in three innings at an average of 67.50.

Experienced left-hander Stacy King made 20 to maintain the momentum in the middle overs, but it required a fighting unbroken eighth-wicket stand of 17 between Mohammed and 18-year-old Shemaine Campbelle to guide the side home. After the match captain Merissa Aguilleira said she was pleased to see the “fight” being demonstrated by the team in the foreign conditions. “We are thrilled with this victory. We had to fight really hard for this win and we again showed that we can beat a team ranked ahead of us on their home soil. We are ‘one team with one dream’ and we will be looking to win the next match and take the series.

“In the second match we panicked a bit and we failed by just 10 runs. After that match we regrouped and told each other that we had to do the job. In the second match we were impatient and that cost us. Today we were more patient and there was more situation awareness and everyone took responsibility. We knew we had to do the job and it worked out.”

The two teams will travel to Rajkot on Sunday. The fourth match is on Tuesday at 10 am (1.30 am Eastern Caribbean Time/12.30 am Jamaica Time).