PTI
Queenstown, February 22
The Indian women’s cricket team’s horror tour of New Zealand continued as the hosts thrashed them by 63 runs in a rain-curtailed fourth ODI today to inch towards a clean sweep in the five-match series here.
Amelia Kerr stole the show with a 33-ball 68 which took New Zealand to 191/5 in 20 overs. She then mopped up the tail with a haul of 3/30 as India managed only 128 runs before being all out in 17.5 overs.
Teenager Richa Ghosh’s counterattacking 52 off 29 balls was the silver lining in an otherwise disastrous performance which has now led to five defeats on this tour, including in the one-off T20.
India’s bowling has got worse with each passing game and it was the worst on Tuesday as only Rajeshwari Gayakwad (4-0-26-1) challenged the home batters.
Meghna Singh (1/45 in 4 overs) and Deepti Sharma (1/49 in 4 overs) were the two bowlers taken to the cleaners by Kerr, who struck 11 fours and a six in her 68.
Asked to bat, New Zealand began well with a 53-run opening stand between Sophie Devine (32 off 24 balls) and Suzie Bates (41 off 26). Once the platform was laid, Kerr and Amy Satterthwaite (32 off 16) made a mockery of the Indian bowling.
A chase of 192 was always going to be a tough ask. Smriti Mandhana was out of rhythm after a long and hard quarantine while youngsters Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia both fell without scoring in quick succession.
The match was all but over by the fifth over when India were reduced to 19/4.
Ghosh and Mithali Raj (30 off 28 balls) added 67 runs but their effort went in vain as wickets fell at regular intervals. India dropped out-of-form senior batter Harmanpreet Kaur from the playing XI.
“Definitely have been trying a few combinations with the seam and spin attack. Bowling attack is a concern going into the World Cup,” Mithali said during the post-match presentation ceremony.. We are adapting to the conditions and to the open ground and the breeze. We have not been very consistent in our bowling spells. I was just looking at Richa’s shots and she is a talented and exciting player for the future for India.”
Meanwhile, Devine was happy with another dominant show. “It was another complete performance from us. We showed good intent. There are times we have been a bit slow in changing our plans with the ball. I have certainly had belief in this group forever. The way these girls have trained over the last two years, the results hadn’t gone our way but good to see that change,” she said. — PTI
Mithali trusts young guns
Dubai: India skipper Mithali Raj is confident that youngsters like Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh will rise to the occasion at the upcoming women’s World Cup in New Zealand next month. Mithali reckons the 18-year-old Verma, who was the team’s standout performer during the 2020 T20 World Cup, will continue to play impressive knocks for the country in the marquee event. “Shafali Verma is surely one of the players being watched with great enthusiasm back home,” Mithali wrote in her column for the ICC. “She is one of the world’s rising stars and I am backing her to have more impressive performances for India throughout the tournament with guidance and support from the stylish Smriti Mandhana at the other end.” The big-hitting Verma has had a relatively lacklustre tour of New Zealand by her standards, having scored only one half-century. However, Ghosh, who is competing with Taniya Bhatia for the wicketkeeper’s spot, has made most of her chances. The 18-year-old slammed fifties in the second and fourth ODIs.
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