Indian eves started their quest for the Asmi Trophy 2004 in front of a packed stadium with a thumping 105-run win over the West Indies in the first one-day international of the five-match series which was held in Dhanbad on Thursday.
West Indies won the toss but were left ruing their decision to bat second when the Indian girls amassed 298 runs for the loss of just 2 wickets. Jaya Sharma led the blistering attack but was unlucky not to reach her century when she fell short by three runs.
The total proved too much for the West Indians and they were bundled out for 193 with just one ball to spare from their quota of 50 overs.
The only worthwhile contribution came from Nadine George who top scored with 53. Nadine also had the distinction of hitting the only six in the match. Neetu David with four wickets and Diana David and Nooshin Al Khadeer with two wickets apiece did the damage.
For her brilliant 97-run effort Jaya won the woman-of-the-match award and received a gift voucher of Rs 25,000 from Asmi, the team and title sponsor for the tour. She also received Rs 20,000 from the Jharkhand Women's Cricket Association.
The teams now move to Jamshedpur where the second match will be played on Sunday, February 29.
Scores:
India 298 for 2 (Jaya Sharma 97, Anju Jain 67, Anjum Chopra 55 not out, Mitali Raj 54 not out) beat West Indies 193 (Nadine George 53. Neetu David 4/21, Diana David 2/44, Nooshin Al Khadeer 2/32)
