India began their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign in shocking fashion, as New Zealand dominated the Women in Blue on all fronts, dealing a 58-run loss to the Indians.
New Zealand Women won the toss and chose to bat first, a decision that they would go on to embrace to the fullest.
The Kiwis remained in total control as Bates and Plimmer got them off to a strong start as NZ raced to 67-1 within 8 overs.
Them, Arundhati Reddy and Asha Sobhana would strike in succession to remove both openers in consecutive overs to finally find the breakthrough.
But, the onslaught would not stop there, as skipper Sophie Devine would go on a scoring rampage, dealing in boundaries to maintain the momentum the Kiwis found early.
A spot of controversy would plague the game momentarily as skipper Harmanpreet Kaur got into a heated argument regarding a run-out call to dismiss NZ’s Amelia Kerr.
India appealed for a run out as the batters looked to take a second run, but the umpires ruled that the ball had been dead and not out was the call, prompting lengthy discussions between the players and officials on the field.
Regardless, it would be Devine’s unbeaten 57* that powered New Zealand to a strong total of 160.
On a pitch that had looked good for batting in the first innings, India’s top order failed to get going, with five of the top six reaching double figures but nobody passing 15.
Eden Carson did the damage early on, removing both openers, taking a return catch to dismiss Shafali Verma (2) and having Smriti Mandhana caught at long-on for 12.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur looked in good touch as she led the recovery, but fell at the back-end of the powerplay when she was trapped in-front by Rosemary Mair.
And wickets continued to fall, as Jemimah Rodrigues’ promising knock came to an abrupt end when she was caught for 13(11), leaving e India needing their middle order to pull off a rescue job.
With the required rate rising, India needed something special, but the increasingly unlikely task proved too much, as New Zealand rattled through the wickets to expose the tail and leave the match done as a contest well before the final delivery.
Richa Ghosh (12), Deepti Sharma (13), Arundhati Reddy (1), Pooja Vastrakar (8), Shreyanka Patil (7) and Renuka Singh were the remaining wickets to fall, as India were bowled out for 102.
Rosemary Mair’s 4/19 were the pick of the figures, with Lea Tahuhu taking 3/15, Eden Carson bagging 2/34 and Melie Kerr finishing with 1/19.
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