Team India made a winning start to their three-game ODI series against New Zealand. Smriti Mandhana and her team won the game by 59 runs. This win came against the newly crowned T20 World Cup winners who are high on confidence. The game saw two new faces for India in the form of Tejal Hasabnis and Saima Thakor.
Beaming Indian skipper Smriti Mandhana said “has been a tough 1.5-2 months, so nice to start off with a win. If you don’t believe in cricket, you won’t be able to do it. We had a talk that we were under-par but if we field well, we could add 20-30 runs”
New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine said “We did a fantastic job of restricting them. It was a good cricket wicket, we thought 260-270 was par. We were confident at the innings break but when you lose wickets consistently, it is difficult to chase on this wicket”
Here is the likely India XI vs New Zealand for 2nd ODI
Top order – Shafali Varma, Smriti Mandhana
Young batting sensation Shafali Varma did well to set the tone of the game with her 33 runs from 22 balls. The young batter took the attack to the Kiwi bowlers and hit five fours and one six in her knock. Skipper Smriti Mandhana continued her bad poor with the bat as she was out for just 5 runs and will hope to bounce back to form.
Middle Order – Yastika Bhatia, Dayalan Hemlatha, Jemimah Rodrigues
In the absence of Richa Ghosh, the home team recalled Yastika Bhatia who batted well to score 37 from 43 balls. Bhatia also took one catch behind the stumps. Dayalan Hemlatha scored just 3 runs with the bat and went wicketless with the ball. The veteran star will hope to do well for India in the next game on Saturday. Jemimah Rodrigues was her busy self with the bat scoring 35 off 36 balls to help the middle order.
Lower-order –Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy
Debutant Tejal Hasabnis was the best batter for India as she scored 42 with the bat from 64 balls. The youngster was also electric in the field and played a key role in India’s win. Deepti Sharma was the best player of the day as she was given the player of the match award for her 41 runs and 1 wicket. Arundhati Reddy bowled well and picked 1/21 from her 6 overs.
Tail enders – Radha Yadav, Saima Thakor, and Renuka Singh Thakur
India will hope that the three bowlers continue to do the amazing job they did on Thursday. Radha Yadav bowled 8.4 overs and picked 3/35 and that broke the back of Kiwi’s batting order. Saima Thakor sent down 7 overs and picked 2/26 while Renuka Singh Thakur was steady with the new ball despite going wicketless.
India’s Likely XI
Shafali Varma, Smriti Mandhana, Yastika Bhatia, Dayalan Hemalatha, Jemimah Rodrigues, Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Saima Thakor, and Renuka Singh Thakur.
Disclaimer: This exclusive news is based on the author’s insights, analysis, and intuition. While reviewing this information, consider the points discussed and form your own conclusions.
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