A day after Virat Kohli-led India side-crushed New Zealand by eight wickets here at McLean Park, riding on Smriti Mandhana’s ton (105) and Jemima Rodrigues’ half century (81 not out), the Indian women team thrashed the Kiwis by nine wickets in the first ICC Women’s Championship One-Day International (ODI), on Thursday.
With the help of Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav and Deepthi Sharma’s spin bowling, who jointly registered a brilliant figure of 8/101 in 29 overs, Mithali Raj-led side bowled New Zealand out for a paltry score of 192 in 48.4 overs and then chased down the target with nine wickets and more than 17 overs to spare.
Chasing the small target, Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues turned the chase into a non-contest with a 190-run partnership, the highest for the opening stand for any team in ODIs against the host.
India, after opting to bowl, had New Zealand bowled out for 192, despite Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine putting on 61 for the opening wicket. The Indian spinners took eight wickets between them, with Ekta Bisht (3/32) and Poonam Yadav (3/42) taking three wickets each, and Deepti Sharma ending with an extremely economical 2/27.
Under their new coach WV Raman, the visitors played tremendously. (UNI)
