Queenstown, Pretr. Despite skipper Mithali Raj half-century, the Indian women’s team suffered a 62-run defeat in the first ODI against New Zealand on Saturday. India won the toss and elected to bowl and New Zealand scored 275 runs in 48.1 overs thanks to opener Suzy Bates’s 106 runs off 111 balls with the help of 10 fours. Apart from Suzy, Amy Sattherwaite contributed 63 runs in New Zealand’s innings. In reply, the Indian team was all out for 213 runs in 49.4 overs thanks to Mithali Raj’s innings of 59 runs off 73 balls with the help of six fours. For New Zealand, Jess Kerr took four wickets for 35 runs.
Mithali Raj maintained her splendid form and scored her seventh half-century in the last 11 innings
Earlier, Suzy scored her 11th ODI century for New Zealand. Suzy also got life on the score of 14 when Rajeshwari Gaikwad dropped her catch in point off Pooja Vastrakar’s ball. However, the Indian team managed to stop the hosts from playing the entire 50 overs by taking the last five wickets within 25 runs. Chasing the target, Mithali Raj, playing her 221st ODI, maintained her superb form and scored her seventh half-century in the last 11 innings. She became the first Indian cricketer to complete 1000 runs in women’s ODI against New Zealand. Yastika Bhatia supported him very well. He scored 41 runs in 63 balls and the two shared an 88-run partnership for the third wicket. However, she lost her wicket on a short ball from Haley Jensen.
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Other batsmen were flop: Apart from Mithali Raj and Yastika, no batsman of the Indian team could survive. India is also bearing the brunt of Harmanpreet Kaur’s poor form. Harmanpreet, who was the Player of the Tournament in the Big Bash League, scored 10 runs in 22 balls. His scores in the last five innings have been 10, 16, 19, 1 and 30 not out. This is a matter of concern for India ahead of the World Cup starting on March 4. India’s batting is also looking weak due to the extension of the quarantine time of star batsman Smriti Mandhana.
