Courtesy: ICC/X
On Friday, October 4, the Indian women’s cricket team suffered a one-sided defeat at the hands of New Zealand by 58 runs in their opening Group A match in the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024. At the Dubai International Stadium, India never seemed in contention to chase down a formidable 161-run target set by the New Zealand batters as Rosemary Mair and Lea Tahuhu picked up seven wickets between themselves.
After winning the toss, New Zealand captain Sophie Devine decided to bat first on a decent batting pitch, where the afternoon match between South Africa and West Indies was played. The opening pair of Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer stitched together an opening stand of 67 runs in 7.4 overs, to set up a perfect platform for the White Ferns to take the attack to the Indian bowlers right throughout their innings.
Sophie Devine received player of the match award for her enterprising fifty against India
Sophie Devine, who was given the player of the match award, took control of the New Zealand batting innings after the openers lost their wickets in quick succession. She scored an enterprising 57 off 36 with seven fours, staying unbeaten till the end, to ensure that New Zealand posted a formidable score of 160/4 in their allotted overs, putting the onus on the Indian cricket team to make the play in the run chase.
In response, the Indian batting lineup didn’t get any partnership of substance, with none of their batters going past 15. After Eden Carson dismissed openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana cheaply, Rosemary Mair took the big wicket of captain Harmanpreet Kaur before Lea Tahuhu ran through the Indian middle order, putting them in all sorts of trouble in the second half of their innings.
Ultimately, the Indian cricket team were dismissed for 102 in 19 overs, getting bundled out for the first-time in the history of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup. Rosemary Mair was the pick of the bowlers from the New Zealand lineup, who had figures of 4/19 in her four-over spell, while the veteran Lea Tahuhu conceded only 15 runs in her entire spell, taking three wickets in the process
