‘It’s been tough 2 months, so..’: Smriti Mandhana reflects on India’s win in 1st ODI

New Delhi: Team India defeated New Zealand by 59 runs in the first women’s ODI match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. After posting a target of 228, India’s bowlers delivered a great performance in the match.

The visitors were bundled out for 168 runs, with five balls remaining. India took a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. Meanwhile, the T20 World Cup champions failed to chase down 228 runs target.

India got off to a poor start and lost the wicket of Smriti Mandhana after opting to bat first. Shafali Varma, Yastika Bhatia and Jemimah Rodrigues made a good start but failed to convert it into a big innings. Rodrigues stitched a 61-run partnership with debutant Tejal Hasabnis for the fifth wicket. Deepti Sharma also scored 41 runs off 51 balls.

Another debutant Saima Thakor dismissed Suzie Bates in the second over and provided the Women in Blue a stunning start in the second innings. Georgia Plimmer and Lauran Down looked to build a partnership but Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav removed both the batters.

Green and Halliday stitched a 49-run partnership to put up some fight in the match but failed to win the match as Indian bowlers delivered a sensational performance in the match. Radha Yadav picked up three wickets and Saima Thakor took two wickets. Deepti Sharma and Arundhati Reddy also picked up one wicket each.

‘It feels good to start with a win’: Smriti Mandhana

After the match, Smriti Mandhana said that the team went through some tough times in the last 1.5 to 2 months and it feels good to start the series with a win. The Women in Blue lost the Asia Cup 2024 final against Sri Lanka and also failed to qualify for the semi-final of the T20 World Cup 2024.

“It’s been a tough 1.5 to 2 months, so it feels good to start with a win. If you don’t believe in cricket, you won’t succeed. We had a talk that we were under-par but if we field well, we could add 20-30 runs. Saima set the tone for us with Suzie’s wicket” said Mandhana, who captained in place of Harmanpreet Kaur, during the post-match presentation.