ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024, IND vs NZ: Sophie Devine's 57 and Pacers hand New Zealand Women a big win over India Women. India lost the game by 58 runs.
Brief Scores: India vs New Zealand, Group A - NZ 160/4 (Sophie Devine 57*, Georgia Plimmer 34, Renuka Singh 2/27) beat IND (H Kaur 15, Rosemary Mair 4/19, Lea Tahuhu 3/15) by 58 runs.
India and New Zealand started their T20 World Cup campaign by facing each other in a Group A fixture at the Dubai International Stadium. This is their 14th meeting in Women T20Is, with New Zealand leading the proceedings with nine wins.
New Zealand’s dominance in the format continued as they completely outplayed India and comprehensively beat them by 58 runs.
Talking Points: Batters looked rusty against New Zealand
After a poor bowling and fielding show, India’s batting let them down in an opening game against New Zealand. They didn’t have the best of starts in their chase of 161 runs, and much of it should be attributed to the poor shot selection by Team India batters.
They played loosely to one’s liking without settling in, and New Zealand rightfully took advantage of any error made by India.
Sophie Devine powers New Zealand to 160/4
New Zealand winning the toss began on a strong note with their openers Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer blazing past the 50-run mark quickly. The pair’s aggressive approach and poor fielding from Team India allowed New Zealand to amass 55 in the powerplays.
However, India came strong in the next four overs by conceding 17 runs and packing up their openers. Things got slow for the Kiwis due to the middle-overs, but their skipper Sophie Devine got them going in her partnership (46 from 26 balls) with Brooke Halliday. New Zealand got a strong finish courtesy of Devine’s powering knock of 37-ball 57, pushing their total to 160.
India batters were kept at bay by the Kiwi bowlers
In pursuit of a challenging 161, India lost Shafali Verma in the second over for two runs. Within the powerplay overs, NZ accounted for two of India’s experienced batters, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti Mandhana, and the latter finished the six-over phase at 43/3.
With three of their main batting lynchpins back in the hut, it would always be difficult for India in this tall chase. The Kiwis never allowed India batters to get away, as they kept chipping away with wickets at regular wickets. India lost the plot completely, getting bowled out of 102 runs. The pick of the lot was the pacer Rosemary Mair, who finished with 4/19.
Statistical Highlights from Ind vs NZ, T20 WC 2024
This is the fifth meeting between India and New Zealand in the Women’s T20 World Cups. Both sides have won twice each.
The 67 in 7.4 overs opening partnership between Suzie Bates & Georgia Plimmer is NZ's fastest opening stand in T20Is against India.
Sophie Devine struck her 21st fifty in T20Is, her fourth against India.
This is India’s second-lowest total in the Women’s T20 World Cup game.
4/19 is Rosemary Mair’s best bowling figures in T20Is.
Points Table Scenario & What's Next
Given this loss, India’s NRR (-2.900) has taken a huge hit, and they need to win all their remaining games by a huge margin to make their SF dream possible. The Women in Blue will face Pakistan at the same venue on Sunday, October 6.
On the other hand, New Zealand will be up against the defending champs, Australia, on October 8 and will look to continue their winning streak in the tournament.
Read More: What India Women need to set right in T20Is?
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