Kiwis, buoyed by a superb batting display from their skipper Sophie Devine and incisive bowling spells from Carson, Tahuhu and Mair, won the crucial encounter against India in Women’s T20 WC 2024 at Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday. Nothing went right for India as the Kiwi openers put on an opening stand before skipper Sophie Devine smashed a 36-ball, 57 runs to earn the ‘Player of the Match’ award. The second innings of the game saw India losing wickets at regular intervals. None of the Indian stars could withstand the pressure created by New Zealand bowlers. Kiwis earned an outstanding 58-run victory in the India vs NZ Women’s T20 WC 2024 encounter.
India vs NZ T20 Women’s T20 WC 2024 – Kiwis on Top in the First Powerplay
The fourth game of the ICC Women’s T20 WC 2024 was underway with India taking on New Zealand at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. .New Zealand Women’s Team Captain Sophie Devine won the toss and elected to bat first.
The decision stood vindicated as Bates pulled away to the square leg for a boundary off Pooja Vastrakar on the very first ball of the match. She hit Vastrakar for another boundary in that over. Soon Bates’ opening partner Plimmer joined in the act by slamming Deepti Sharma for a four and a six in the third over of the India vs NZ Women’s T20 WC 2024 game.
Indian Women’s Team Strike Against New Zealand
Both openers continued to plunder the Indian bowling attack which looked clueless against the barrage of strokes displayed by them. NZ reached 55 for no loss in six overs. India struck in the 8th over when Arundhati Reddy induced a false stroke from Bates who was holed out by Shreyanka Patil at deep mid-wicket. Another wicket fell as Plimmer mistimed one shot off Asha Sobhana and was caught brilliantly by Smriti Mandhana at long-on. Two quick wickets put India back into the contest after a half-century stand between the New Zealand openers.
Sophie Drives NZ Forward with Crucial Partnerships
Captain Sophie Devine and Amelia Kerr started taking the New Zealand innings forward by hitting odd boundaries and rotating the strike by taking ones and twos. Renuka Thakur, however, claimed the wicket of a rather sluggish knock of 22-ball 13 runs by Amelia Kerr. New Zealand reached a hundred in the 15th over. Left-handed batter Halliday came to partner the skipper Sophie at the crease. The duo started scoring runs at a brisk pace, especially Sophie who kept piercing the ball into the gap.
Renuka Thakur broke the 46-run stand between two batters in the India vs NZ Women’s T20 WC 2024 game. Halliday gave herself some room by backing away but Renuka bowled it relatively tighter, making the NZ batter hit it straight to Mandhana at cover. Green came and hit the second delivery she faced for a boundary. Sophie raised her half-century in the last over of the NZ innings by hitting one to the left of Harmanpreet Kaur at mid-off. NZ reached 160 for 4 at the end of 20 overs. Sophie scored 57 off 36 balls, hitting seven boundaries.
India vs NZ Women’s T20 WC 2024 – Kiwis Pick Three Wickets Inside the First Powerplay
Smriti Mandhana hit the first ball of the innings to the square leg fence for a boundary, much like how Bates did for NZ in their innings. J. Kerr bowled short and Mandhana pulled that into the square leg where the deep fielder put in the dive but could not stop the ball from crossing the fence. The right-arm off-spinner Carson dismissed Shafali Verma by taking the latter’s catch on her follow-through. Shafali was looking to play across to a delivery that held a touch on the surface, inducing a leading edge back to the bowler.
A great moment for the Kiwis in the India vs NZ T20 WC 2024 encounter under the lights. Smriti, however, continued to chip away with useful runs for the side by hitting boundaries in between. New Zealand started tightening the screws on India by not allowing Harmanpreet Kaur to score freely. After the first over where India scored 11 runs, the next three just went for 10 runs before Harmanpreet bent down on one knee to hit Carson between the short fine-leg and square leg for a boundary in the fifth over.
Heartbreak for the Indian Women’s Team as Smriti Mandhana could not time the lofted shot and gave a simple catch to Green at long-off in the very same over. Jemmiah Rodrigues came and showed her intent straightaway by sweeping Carson for a boundary. Harmanpreet Kaur, in the next over, steered a wide delivery to the left of the cover fielder for a boundary. Disastrous for India as Mair trapped Harmanpreet for leg before wicket. India were struggling at 42 for 3 in 5.4 overs.
Kiwi Bowlers Continue to Dominate in India vs NZ Women’s T20 WC 2024 Game
Tahuhu got the prized scalp of Jemmiah to leave India reeling at 54 for 4 in 8.5 overs. At the end of 10 overs, India reached 63 for 4. The Indian dugout saw tensed faces as the asking rate was climbing all the time. Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma gathered at the crease to take the Indian innings forward. However, the partnership didn’t last long as Tahuhu gave a simple catch to NZ skipper Sophie Devine at mid-off. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led unit was looking down the barrel at 70 for 5 in 11 overs in this India vs NZ T20 WC 2024 game. Another soft dismissal happened as Arundhati Reddy miscued a shot completely. Bates took an easy catch at covers.
Pooja Vastrakar joined Deepti Sharma at the crease with the team needing 84 off the last seven overs with only four wickets left. More troubles for India as Tahuhu struck again as Deepti Sharma found Sophie Devine at covers. A. Kerr bowled Pooja for 8 off 7 balls, leaving the Indian Women’s Team in complete disarray at 90 for 8. Mair dismissed Shreyanka who was looking to slog but only managed to give a simple catch to the substitute fielder Penfold at mid-off. Mair took the wicket of Renuka Thakur the next ball to wrap up India’s innings for just 102. New Zealand won the game by 58 runs.
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