Indian women’s cricket team has emerged victorious against the New Zealand women’s team 2-1 in the three-match ODI series, winning the final ODI by six wickets, at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Tuesday.
Having been asked to chase 233, Smriti Mandhana came good for India, scoring a brilliant 100 and stitching a match-winning 117-run partnership with captain Harmanpreet Kaur, who scored an unbeaten 59.
Having won the toss and electing to bat first, New Zealand were crippled early by the Indian bowlers, with wickets falling at regular intervals and the flow of runs stemmed.
Reeling at 88/5 close to the halfway stage, the White Ferns were rescued by the brilliance of Brook Halliday, who scored 86 (96 balls, 9x4s, 3x6s) and strung useful partnerships with the lower order to get their team to a respectable total of 232.
From the Indian side, Deepti Sharma, who rose to the second spot in the ODI bowlers ranking, was the pick of the bowlers, claiming three wickets for just 39 runs in her quota of 10 overs.
Priya Mishra’s 2-41 was the next best bowler, with Renuka Singh and Saima Thakor both claiming one wicket each.
India’s vice-captain Smriti Mandhana started things off brilliantly for India in the chase, taking her time and not giving her wicket away. Shafali Verma fell cheaply, ending what has been a disappointing series for the swashbuckling opener.
Wicketkeeper Yashtika Bhatia’s handy 35 (49b, 4x4s) and Jemimah Rodrigues’ 22 (18b, 4x4s) were useful contributions in the run chase, but the star of the show was undoubtedly Smriti Mandhana, who notched up her eighth ODI ton.
Skipper Kaur was brilliant as well, scoring an unbeaten 59 (63b, 6x4s) and guiding the Indians to a series win against New Zealand.
While Smriti took home the Player of the Match award, Deepti Sharma was adjudged Player of the Series for her all-round contributions.
After a disappointing T20 World Cup, a 2-1 series win against the T20 World Cup champions is a good way to bounce back for India, as they will now travel to Australia for a three-match ODI series in December.
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