Top and middle order need to fire: Mithali Raj after NZ defeat

Indian captain Mithali Raj felt that the top order needs to fire if they are to win more games in the 2022 Women's World Cup following the 62-run loss against New Zealand on Thursday.

Chasing 261 at he Seddon Park in Hamilton, India started off slowly and never gained momentum as the run rate kept climbing up.

"We thought it was chasable but provided we had the top order going," Raj said at the post-match presentation. 

"But back to back wickets put a lot of pressure because we did't have batter who can take it deep," she added.

Besides Harmanpreet Kaur's 71 off 63 balls, none of the Indian batters got going as they struggled to find the fence, while lack of quick singles dried up runs in their chase.

"There was bounce and it got slower in the second innings, their seamers were hitting the right areas with the bounce, but it wasn't unplayable and we could have done better," she said. 

With the next match against unbeaten West Indies, Raj felt that the batting need to aim at scores above 250.

"Our batting, especially the top and middle order needs to fire because other teams are posting 250-260. Our bowlers have done well today and earlier as well," she said.

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine was pleased with her team's performance as she praised Amy Satterthwaite for her sublime 75 runs off 84 balls which took the White Ferns to a fighting total.

"Really complete performance, we built partnerships throughout, Satterthwaite was outstanding, we laid the platform and we knew it was a good score," Devine said.

Pacer Lea Tahuhu (3-17) and star allrounder Amelia Kerr (3-56) kept chipping away wickets as India never recovered after scoring just 50 runs from the first 20 overs.

"Our bowlers were outstanding, didn't give them anything. We have different people putting their hand up in different phases of the game, that's what we want in the World Cup," Devine said.