Clinical New Zealand thrash India by 62 runs

India and New Zealand have locked horns six times in the last month as a part of their build-up for the World Cup. While the two sides were familiar with the tactics and strength of the players in the opposition, New Zealand produced a clinical performance in the match that mattered the most to gain vital two points in this mega event. 

After having a slight hiccup in the inaugural event, New Zealand have bounced back to register comprehensive wins against Bangladesh and India in the next two league matches and jump to the second position on the table. 

#TeamNewZealand beat #TeamIndia by 62 runs and register their second win in #CWC22 👏 pic.twitter.com/JyUS1tlNuq

— ICC Cricket World Cup (@cricketworldcup) March 10, 2022

The White Ferns were dominant in all three departments and recorded a 62-run win against the Women in Blue, courtesy of some match-defining performances from Amy Satterthwaite and Amelia Kerr. 

Did India miss a trick at the toss?

It was indeed a special moment for Mithali Raj when she walked out for the all-important toss as the 39-year old recoded a special milestone as she became the first player to captain the side in 150 ODI games. 

The skipper of the side, however, caught most of the people by surprise when she won the toss and elected to bowl first in this must-win encounter. Over the years, the Indian team have been known to put runs on the board and apply pressure with spinners operating in the run chase. However, with the dew factor set to play a role under lights, the Indian skipper opted to bowl first. 

While the move seemed to have worked well initially after India managed to pick up two crucial wickets with only 50 runs on the board, Amelia Kerr and Amy Satterthwaite had other ideas. 

Amelia Kerr and Amy Sattwewaite smash half-centuries

The 21-year old has been one of the most improved players for the White Ferns after the last edition of the World Cup and has continued her sublime performance against India in the fifty-over format. After coming in at number three, with the score reading nine for the loss of Suzie Bates, the right-handed batter accumulated the ones and the two to keep the scoreboard ticking. 

Despite losing the wicket of Devine immediately after the powerplay, Amelia forged a crucial 67-run partnership with Satterthwaite. While the southpaw anchored the innings, Amelia took the attack to the Indian spinners and scored her sixth half-century off 63 deliveries to help the home team consolidate after early blows. 

While she was looking solid for a significant knock, Rajeshwari Gayakwad trapped her in front of the wicket to help India crawl their way back into the game. 

With three wickets down, the onus of the side relied on the vice-captain of the White Ferns to bail them out of this challenging situation. The southpaw did precisely that as she smashed a well-compiled half-century to anchor the innings and lay a solid platform for the power-hitters lower down the order. 

En route to her knock of 75 runs studded with nine boundaries, she became the second player from the New Zealand side to score 4500 runs in this format. 

Pooja Vastrakar leads India's fightback

While the home team looked solid to cross the 275-run mark in the 40th over, Pooja Vastrakar pulled things back for India by bowling an economical spell at the death. The right-arm pacer picked up wickets at regular intervals and finished with figures of four for 34 in her quota of ten overs to restrict the White Ferns to 260 for the loss of nine wickets in the first innings. 

The 22-year old was well supported by Jhulan Goswami, who picked up the wicket of Katey Martin to finish with figures of one for 41 in her nine-over spell. With that wicket, 39-year old equalled the record of Lyn Fullston as the highest wicket-taker in the history of the Women's World Cup with 39 dismissals. 

India crumble in the run chase

In pursuit of 261 runs, the Women in Blue needed one of their top order batters to bat through the innings and lay a steady foundation for the side. With Shafali Verma dropped due to a string of low scores, Yastika Bhatia and Smriti Mandhana walked out for the Indian side. 

Two left-handed batters in the middle, Sophie Devine, opted for the off-spin of Frankie Mackay to open the bowling for the hosts. Along with Jess Kerr, Mackay bowled a nagging line and length to stifle the Indian batters before the former got the better of Mandhana for six off 21 deliveries. 

With Yastika Bhatia and Deepti Sharma in the middle, India were guilty of playing too many dot deliveries that helped the required run-rate climb over the six runs per over. 

One of the most impressive decisions by the White Ferns was to bring in the experience of Tahuhu in the middle-overs to dent the Indian batters with a barrage of short deliveries and restrict the flow of runs. 

The right-arm pacer was outstanding in her first spell as she picked up two wickets for seven runs in her six-over spell. 

With only 50 runs and the loss of three wickets in the 20 overs, Harmanpreet Kaur and Mithali stitched a 47-run partnership for the fourth wicket before Amelia got the better of Mithali and Richa Ghosh to derail the Indian innings. 

Despite a valiant half-century by Harmanpreet Kaur, the match was out of grasp for the Women in Blue manly due to the number of dot deliveries in the first half of the innings. 

While the right-handed batter scored 71 off 63 balls studded with six boundaries and two sizes, she accelerated after reaching her milestone in the 43rd overs, much to the surprise of the fans. 

With the runs hard to come by, it was only a matter of time before the White Ferns recorded a commanding win and staged an impressive comeback in their bid to win the second world title. 

The Women in Blue ought to go back to their drawing board and improve on their performance with the bat as they lock horns with the Windies on Saturday, 12th March at the same venue.