Pune: India defeated New Zealand by 53 runs in the crucial match of Women’s ODI World Cup. In the match shortened to 49 overs due to rain, India scored 340 runs for the loss of three wickets. The game was cut short again when rain came again in New Zealand’s innings. The revised target was 325 runs in 44 overs. But the Kiwis’ fight ended at 271 for 8. India, who have failed in their last three matches, needed this win to secure their semi-final ticket. With the win, India entered the Women’s World Cup semi-finals as the fourth-placed team.
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At the DY Patil Stadium, hosts India built a huge score on the strength of centuries from Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandana. In the opening match, both of them added 212 runs in 32 overs. Pratika’s innings consisted of 13 fours and two sixes in 134 balls. Smriti’s innings consisted of 10 fours and four sixes in 95 balls.
Jamima Rodrigues (76 off 55 balls) remained unbeaten. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur (10) and Richa Ghosh (4) are the other scorers. With the century, Mandana became one of the women’s players to score the most centuries in a calendar year.
Brook Halliday (81) and wicketkeeper Isabella Gase (65 not out) (also reported to have scored 61) battled for half-centuries for the visitors but could not get past the target. New Zealand’s struggle ended at 271/8. Amelia Kerr (45) and Georgia Plimmer (30) also watched the fight.
Renuka Singh and Kranti Goud took two wickets each and performed well for India. Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Pratika Rawal and Nallapureddy Charani took one wicket each. The peculiarity of the match was that everyone who bowled for India got a wicket. Smriti Mandana who scored a century was the star of the game.
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