All-round dominance helps NZ beat India by 58 runs in World T20

DUBAI: New Zealand earned a thumping 58-run win over India in Group A of the Women’s World T20 here on Friday. India’s famed batting line-up floundered in the face of disciplined bowling from the opposition with medium pacers Lea Tahuhu (3/15) and Rosemary Mair (4/19) doing the bulk of the damage as India was bowled out for 102 in 19 overs in pursuit of 161.'

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s 15 (14b, 2x4) was the highest scorer in what was a meek surrender from an Indian team considered to be a contender before the start of the tournament.

Earlier, legendary skipper Sophie Devine’s years of experience came in handy as her power-packed half-century was the most significant contribution in New Zealand’s challenging 160 for 4.

On a sticky track where stroke-making was difficult, Devine (57 not out off 36 balls) muscled her way with seven boundaries as most Indian bowlers sans Deepti Sharma (0/45 in 4 overs) used the tackiness of the track to good effect for the better part of the innings.

The Devine-Brooke Halliday (16 off 12 balls) stand of 46 runs in just 4.2 overs took the White Ferns to an above-par score if one takes the pitch into consideration.

Devine, who dropped herself in the batting order, displayed excellent footwork to dismantle the length bowled by Indian bowlers with the standout shot being a bent on knee cover-drive off Shreyanka Patil to complete her fifty.

One thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was poor ground fielding from India save Jemimah Rodrigues, who was brilliant as usual in the deep.

Veteran Suzie Bates (27 off 24 balls) and young Georgia Plimmer (34 off 23 balls) rode their luck and some shoddy fielding from India to race to 55 at the end of the Powerplay. The slowness of the track forced both openers to come down the track and take the aerial route on occasion with Plimmer depositing Deepti into the long-on stand in her very first over.

Renuka Singh’s misfield that cost India a boundary and Richa Ghosh bungling a skier to give Bates a reprieve off Arundhati Reddy’s (1/28 in 4 overs) bowling only compounded the team’s woes.

However once leg-spinner Asha Sobhana (1/22 in 4 overs) started operating just after Powerplay, she immediately put brakes on the White Ferns’ scoring rate and with Reddy taking the pace off her deliveries from the other end, India was back in the game removing the openers in a space of three deliveries.

Brief scores: New Zealand 160/4 in 20 overs (S Devine 57*, G Plimmer 34, R Singh 2/27) bt India 102 in 19 overs (H Kaur 15, D Sharma 13, J Rodrigues 13, R Mair 4/19, L Tahuhu 3/15)