The relentless accuracy of the Radha Yadav-led bowlers gave India a comfortable 59-run win over New Zealand in the first women’s ODI in Ahmedabad on Thursday. India leads the three-match series 1-0 after beating the Kiwis by 168 while chasing a score of 228. Left-arm spinner Yadav (4/42) was India’s leading bowler. Debuting pacer Saima Thakor struck first off only the second ball of her international career to remove Suzy Bates (1).
Bates bowled an away swinger to Yastika Bhatia behind the stumps.
But that was only the beginning as three more wickets fell as New Zealand’s population reached 79, and the dismissal of skipper Sophie Devine was the most bizarre of events.
Devine forgot to drag her feet behind the crease as Yastika, who fumbled after bowler Deepti Sharma threw the ball back to her, cleared the bails.
New Zealand briefly boosted their vision of a comeback by scoring an innings-high 49 runs through the fifth-wicket partnership of Brooke Holiday (39) and Maddie Green (31).
However, Thakor dismissed Halliday to break the growing stand and the New Zealand innings never recovered after that.
Before that, India too had endured a stifling batting experience as they failed to deal with the wily Kerr sisters – Amelia and Jess. They shot a slightly under par 227 after opting to bat first.
Leg-spinner Amelia (4/42) and middle pacer Jess (3/49) were at the forefront of the Kiwis’ charge with the ball and received capable support from off-spinner Eden Carson (2/42).
The bane of the Indian innings was the inability of the batsmen to start.
Deepti Sharma (41), debutant Tejal Hasabnis (42), Shafali Verma (33), Yastika (37) and Jemimah Rodrigues (35) started their blocks in good fashion but failed to progress.
Hasabnis, in particular, must have been in a bad mood because she played so well before coming out to Amelia.
The right-hander danced down the track to the leg-spinner as she saw the flight, but she failed to connect with the ball while trying with tremendous force. Stumper Isabella Gaze did the rest.
The only bright spot in India’s innings was their 50+ ally. It was 61 between Rodrigues and Hasabnis for the fifth wicket.
Skipper Smriti Mandhana, who led the team after Harmanpreet Kaur was rested due to a nagging issue, was herself dismissed at number three.
She gave a simple catch to Georgia Plimmer off Jess as India could not give the desired early momentum to their innings.
After that, they struggled for the remainder of their innings, but the hosts’ bowlers rose to the occasion.
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