Dubai: Indian bowlers were taken to the cleaners by the ruthless New Zealand batters in their opening clash of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup in Dubai. Indian bowlers were caught off guard by the brutal onslaught in the powerplay by the Kiwi openers, who laid the perfect foundation for a big total of 160 for 4 in 20 overs.
Suzie Bates (27) and Georgia Plimmer (34) added 67 runs in only 7.4 overs and left India stunned by their aggressive batting.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side was sloppy in the field and was guilty of dropping Bates in the sixth over as Richa Ghosh spilt an easy chance. Looking out of ideas during the powerplay, India pulled things back with two quick wickets but a sensational unbeaten 57 (36b) by veteran Sophie Devine helped the Kiwis reach a formidable total.
During the latter part of the innings, the Devine-Brooke Halliday (16 off 12 balls) partnership of 46 runs in just 4.2 overs took the White Ferns to an above-par score on a slow track.
Devine demolishes Indian bowling
Devine, reading the conditions well, dropped herself in the batting order, and showcased superb footwork to demolish the Indian bowlers. Her standout shot was a bent-on knee cover drive off Shreyanka Patil in the final over of the innings to complete her fifty.
India bowled well in patches but the Kiwis made full use of the loose ball and rotated the strike expertly to keep the scoreboard ticking.
The batting in powerplay, in particular, was brilliant by the openers who negated the the slowness of the track by coming down the track and taking the aerial route on occasion to unsettle the bowlers.
Leg-spinner Asha Sobhana (1/22 in 4 overs), who was brought into the attack just after the powerplay, immediately put brakes on the White Ferns’ scoring rate but the Kiwis still found a way to score freely with some intelligent batting.
Renuka Singh bagged two wickets while Arundhati Reddy and Sobhana bagged a wicket each.
Earlier, Kiwi skipper Sophie Devine had won the toss and chose to bat first in the Group A clash.
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IND-W vs NZ-W: New Zealand have set a daunting 161-run target for India in the Women’s T20 World Cup Group B clash in Dubai. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
