Courtesy: BCCI/X
On Thursday, October 24, Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of Indian women’s cricket team, got rested from the first ODI of the three-match series against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, due to a niggle. Smriti Mandhana, the vice-captain of India, walked out for the toss, to break the news while taking charge of the national team for the opening game of the series.
Apart from informing about Harmanpreet Kaur’s niggle, stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana also announced that Saima Thakor and Tejal Hasabnis will be making their ODI debut in the first match of the series against New Zealand. Following her decision to bat first, Smriti Mandhana was dismissed cheaply for just five off seven as Georgia Plimmer took a smart catch off the bowling of Jess Kerr.
After a couple of decent 30s from Shafali Verma and Dayalan Hemalatha, the Indian innings got back on track, but then, a string of wickets from New Zealand bowlers put them behind the eight ball. As of this writing, India are 154/5 in 28 overs with the debutant Tejal Hasabnis at the crease in the 30s alongside the experienced Deepti Sharma.
Here are the playing XIs of India and New Zealand women’s cricket teams for the first ODI of the three-match series:
India: Smriti Mandhana (c), Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Dayalan Hemalatha, Jemimah Rodrigues, Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Arundhati Reddy, Saima Thakor, Renuka Singh
New Zealand: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Amelia Kerr, Sophie Devine (c), Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Lauren Down, Izabelle Gaze (wk), Jess Kerr, Molly Penfold, Eden Carson
