Kolkata: India’s T20 World Cup hopes took a body blow after New Zealand’s disciplined bowling shot them out for a paltry 102 in an uphill chase of 160 in the tournament opener at Dubai on Friday.
Captain Sophie Devine hit an unbeaten fifty but the foundation of their victory was laid in the first Powerplay after New Zealand won the toss as openers Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer made the most of the pitch and some wayward Indian bowling before their bowlers took pace off the ball to make stroke-making arduous.
Failing to adapt to the pace of the pitch, India were out of the chase even before it began properly. First ball of the second over, Verma played for turn but Eden Carson induced a leading edge off her bat. Carson was again in action when Mandhana opened up for a lofted shot over her head but hit straight to long on.
Harmanpreet Kaur reviewed a leg-before appeal but Rosemary Mair had done enough to keep the ball within the stumps to be backed by the umpire’s call. Three down quickly but India still had Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma — all high calibre power hitters.
But so excruciating was the slowness of the pitch and so precise was New Zealand’s bowling that all of them were forced to throw away their starts in search of jailbreak shots. Which should prompt an immediate scrutiny of shot selection, considering now that India have to win the rest of their games (last of which would be played against Australia, on a slower pitch at Sharjah) to make it to the semi-finals.
India’s defeat was comprehensive, not just in application but also in judgment and execution. With the pitch staying unchanged throughout both innings, and dew not playing any part in the chase, India were found shockingly out of depth.
“We didn’t play our best cricket,” said Kaur after the match. “Going forward we know every game is important. We created chances but we were not able to avail those chances. They played better cricket than us, no doubt about that. We have chased 160-170 many times, we were expecting that on the board. While batting, we knew someone had to bat through but we kept losing wickets.”
There were early signs India may have a rough day when Ghosh dropped a catch that seemed to swirl under the stadium lights forever. And then when she broke the stumps with Amelia Kerr scampering for a second run, it was ruled as a dead ball. India looked almost despondent when Renuka Singh let through a boundary through her hands, all at a time New Zealand scoring at over nine per over.
They had evidently got the memo and also trained for it, as Plimmer—who had combined with Suzie Bates to add 67 for the first wicket—later said at the innings break. But run chases do strange things to good batters. And this was already billed as the second highest chase in T20 World Cup history before Mandhana and Verma took stance.
It should have been mildly satisfying, and probably equally frustrating, that India pulled back the game when the field finally spread. But half the game had already been conceded in the first Powerplay when New Zealand scored 55 runs.
The target could have been higher had India not hit back in the next four overs, conceding just 17 runs and dismissing the two openers. First to go was the dangerous Bates, trying to heave a slower delivery from Arundhati Reddy but couldn’t clear Shreyanka Patil at deep midwicket. In three deliveries Plimmer went, coming down the track but her hoick finding Mandhana at long-on. Which immediately meant New Zealand had two batters starting from scratch at the same time.
This is when Devine came to their rescue, pushing through the middle overs with a combative fifty, warming up with two consecutive boundaries off Asha Sobhana and pulling New Zealand out of the rut. Lengths were pulled back but Devine still managed to come to the pitch of the deliveries and find gaps.
Sharma was reversed, swept and then carted through square for three boundaries in the 18th over, before Devine carved Patil through mid-off in the 20th to raise his fifty. The final 60 runs coming off just 32 balls, New Zealand tightened their already solid grip over the match.
