By: BCCI
India lost the third ODI of the five-match series to New Zealand by six wickets. Since the match was the last of the three matches that had a bearing on the ICC World Championships, India are currently at the bottom of the ICC World Championship rankings as they trail the series 1-2. Veda Krishanmurthy’s determined 63 helped India set the visitors a 183-run target in the must-win game. The middle-order bat held the innings together even as wickets fell in a cluster in the middle until departing in the last over of the innings. However, the White Ferns captain, Suzie Bates and Rachel Priest (64) took the game away from the hosts in a 125-run opening stand to set the stage for their victory in Bangalore. Amy Satterthwaite then took the team across the line with ease.
The hosts lost their lead run-getter of the previous game, MD Thirushkamini with just 15 runs on the board. Sophie Devine had the opener edge to gully, while Smriti Mandhana departed handing a catch to mid-wicket for eight. Harmanpreet Kaur who then joined her captain in the middle struggled to get runs against her name and 28 runs later was run-out.
At the other end Raj, who had looked in good nick as she sent Lea Tahuhu through mid-wicket for a couple of boundaries early in her innings looked to hold the innings together as she looked to build a partnership with Krishnamurthy. However, Devine who had claimed both the openers forced an edge from Raj through to the wicketkeeper to leave the home team on 78 for four.
Krishnamurthy then shouldered the responsibility of guiding India to a respectable score. She found an able ally in Deepti Sharma. Scoring at a healthy rate of over four runs per over the pair put together a 71-run partnership to seize the advantage from the visitors. Leigh Kasperek’s brilliant diving catch that accounted for Sharma halted the flourishing stand. Ekta Bisht then followed her back in the next over.
Jhulan Goswami who then took strike swung Suzie Bates for six over long-on but departed handing a simple catch to Peterson later in the over. N Niranjana then joined Krishnamurthy in the effort to take the team to a par score in the must-win game. She drove and pulled Devine for a couple of boundaries and while they looked to add to the tally both were run out of successive balls in the last over. Rajeshwari Gayakwad who then walked out to the middle added a solitary run of the last ball to help set NZ a 183-run target.
Chasing the target, the NZ skipper and opening partner Priest meticulously scaled the target. After scoring just a couple off Goswami in the first over, the wicketkeeper batsman slammed Ekta Bisht for two back-to-back boundaries in the next to set the ball rolling. Scoring at an unhurried pace the pair gleaned runs off the Indian attack with precision.
Bates too found the gaps and the pair built a solid foundation to tip the balance in the White Ferns’ favour in the all-important game. The pair watchfully wrested the advantage from India as the plucked singles and twos to maintain a steady flow of runs.
Priest was the first to reach the half-century mark with a six off Krishnamurthy over deep mid-wicket. The pair took the side past the three-figure mark in an unbroken stand. However, Bates, who had soon followed with her fifty returned to the pavilion for 59.
The NZ captain, who had edged the tall pacer to the slips survived to build a 125-run opening stand since the delivery was a no ball. She eventually was sent back by the pacer later in the innings, but by then NZ was comfortably placed in the driver’s seat. With the end of the stand, Priest perished in the next over; trapped lbw by Kaur.
Bisht had Maddie Green stumped 14 runs later. However, Statterthwaite kept the innings on course with Devine in a 35-run partnership. Unfortunately for the visitors the lower-order bat was dismissed by Sharma with victory in sight. Perkins then struck the bowler to the fence off the first ball she faced to take the team to victory while Statterthwaite remained unbeaten on 22.
