Indian woman’s team registers a win over New Zealand that could give them a morale boost. The win would give India some confidence ahead of the World Cup. New Zealand, on the other hand, would want to put behind a rather dismaying performance. The sloppy fielding that they displayed gave Mandhana and Harmanpreet to drive their shots through.
Fireworks from India against New Zealand
Smriti Mandhana (71), Harmanpreet Kaur (63), and Mithali Raj (57) scored half-centuries. The Indian woman’s team established a six-wicket win in the fifth One Day India vs New Zealand in Queenstown. New Zealand won the first four matches.
Though India lost Shefali Verma in the fifth over, Smriti Mandhana and Deepti established a good partnership of 60 to lay out the foundation for the middle order of India. Mandhana played some aesthetical and eye-catchy drives while playing with freedom. She also got a couple of reprieves in the 17th and 18th over respectively.
After Deepti was dismissed, Mandhana partnered up with Harmanpreet Kaur, who before this ODI has scored only one half-century in the last four years. Kaur lofted Fran Jonas for a six in the 24th over, which boosted her confidence. She received a hug from Mandhana for playing the lofted stroke.
Harmanpreet and Mithali Raj formed a partnership in the 29th order after Mandhana’s dismissal. Their partnership scored 72 runs as India moved closer to victory. Harmanpreet and Raj consistently kept the pressure on for the bowlers.
Also read: Why Brooke Halliday out of the final two India ODIs?
Bowling magic from Indian woman’s against New Zealand
The victory foundation for the Indian woman’s team was laid out by the bowlers. Sneh Rana nicked off the wicket of Devine by making her play the cut that was caught by backward point. That broke the strong partnership of Devine and Amelia Kerr.
The experienced player Amy Satterthwaite played a long sweep shot on the ball by Deepti Sharma. A fielder in the deep midwicket caught the ball. Kerr got out in the 29th over, mishitting a sweep to Richa Gosh bowled by Deepti. Rana and Poonam combined together to pick up the wickets of Kately Martin and Lauren Down to leave New Zealand six down.
Hayley Jansen (30) still flowered some hope for New Zealand by keeping the scorecard ticking over. She got an extra life when Ghosh dropped a catch in the 45th over. New Zealand struggles past 250 somehow and ended up with 251 for 9 in 50 overs.
