India lost their tournament opener to New Zealand in Dubai. (PC: ICC)
Sophie Devine’s brilliance (57 not out, 36 balls) turned out to be the difference between New Zealand and India, as the New Zealand Women came out victorious in their Women’s T20 World Cup opener in Dubai on Friday. India could muster only 102 in a chase of 161.
Georgia Plimmer, who didn’t have much to show for before today’s effort, also played her part with a sprightly innings of 34 in 23 deliveries. It was her stand of 67 in just under eight overs with Suzie Bates that laid the platform for New Zealand’s above-par total. The feature of Plimmer’s innings was the way she danced down the deck at every single opportunity while facing Deepti Sharma.
Bates, the senior pro, also gave a fine exhibition of batting, pulling and whipping Pooja Vastrakar in the opening over. India, though, could have broken the partnership but Richa Ghosh dropped a sitter to give Bates the reprieve. Arundhati Reddy was the unlucky bowler. The medium pacer had the last laugh as she eventually dislodged Bates, with Shreyanka Patil taking the catch.
Asha Sobhana, the leg-spinner, removed Devine in the very next over. At that stage, Devine joined forces with Plimmer to put New Zealand back in front. Initially, she shared an alliance of 32 with Amelia Kerr. And then, a game-breaking 46-run association with Brooke Halliday. The essence of Devine’s batting was her ability to pick the length, which in turn helped her use the depth of the crease against the spin trio of Sobhana, Shreyanka and Deepti. Devine smashing Sobhana down the ground and then pulling her the very next ball gave a glimpse of her class.
For India, Reunka Singh and Sobhana gave away 49 runs and took three wickets between them in eight overs. There was also some controversy during the course of New Zealand’s innings. For a moment, Amelia seemed to be run out off the last ball of the 14th over. The all-rounder looked to steal a second run. Harmanpreet Kaur, the fielder at long-off, however, still had the ball in her hand.
She then threw it towards the ‘keeper’s end and Amelia couldn’t make it to the crease. The umpires then deemed the ball to be dead. Presumably, Jacqueline Williams, the square-leg umpire was tying her laces and the umpire at the bowler’s end had called it an over. On expected lines, Harmanpreet and Amol Muzumdar, the India captain and coach, weren’t pleased with the decision.
“We were pretty sure we got that run out. In the end, it is not in our control. We accept the umpire’s decision. But it was a bit harsh as Amelia herself walked back to the pavilion, as she knew she was run out,” Jemimah Rodrigues said on the controversial decision.
In pursuit of a sizeable target, none of the Indian batters could make an impression against some incisive bowling by New Zealand. Harmanpreet was the top-scorer with 15 runs. Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah, Richa and Deepti also crossed the 10-run mark. But India needed one of those players to play an innings of substance. “We created the opportunities but couldn’t make the most of it,” Rodrigues said.
On the other hand, Eden Carlson imparted a bit of overspin and took the key scalps of Mandhana and Shafali. Rosemary Mair found enough swing and took four scalps. Lea Tahuhu, the veteran pacer, also chipped in with wickets. In fact, New Zealand generated over two degrees of average swing. Certain external factors could have come into play in the night, resulting in the ball being in pristine condition.
In the final analysis, New Zealand thoroughly outplayed India in all the departments of the game. The pacers found more swing, while the spinners got more purchase. New Zealand’s batters were more purposeful and their fielding was better. They won after losing their previous 10 T20 games. India have a lot of soul-searching to do.
Brief scores: New Zealand 160/4 in 20 overs (Sophie Devine 57*, Georgia Plimmer 34; Renuka Singh 2-27) beat India 102 in 19 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 15; Rosemary Mair 4-19) by 58 runs
