Team India made a spectacular comeback after three consecutive defeats and secured its place in the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup by registering a spectacular victory over New Zealand by 53 runs (DLS method) in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
It was a complete team effort from the Women in Blue as all the bowlers took important wickets and restricted New Zealand to 271/8 in 44 overs while chasing the revised target of 325. Renuka Singh (2/25) and Kranti Gaur (2/48) took the key wickets of the match for Ina.
Renuka also achieved a major milestone in her career during the game, completing 100 international wickets, including 40 in ODIs, 58 in T20s and 2 in Tests, which shows her consistency across formats.
New Zealand’s chase got off to a poor start as veteran Suzie Bates was out after scoring just 1 run, leaving the team at 1/1 in 1.3 overs. The innings got worse with the early dismissal of captain Sophie Devine for 6 runs and the score became 59/3 in 11.3 overs.
After this, Amelia Kerr and Brooke Halliday took over the team with a partnership of 56 runs, while Sneh Rana dismissed Kerr for 45 runs. Maddy Green tried to increase the pace but was dismissed for 18 runs by Prateek Raval, who had scored a century in the first match.
Brooke Halliday fought bravely and scored 81 runs in 84 balls with the help of nine fours and one six, while Isabella Gage played an aggressive inning of 65* runs in 51 balls with the help of ten fours. Both of them together added 72 important runs, but their efforts were inadequate and India won the match easily.
Earlier, India scored a mammoth score of 340 runs for 3 wickets in 49 overs against New Zealand. Centuries from Prateik Rawal (122) and Smriti Mandhana (109) laid the foundation for India’s first convincing win, while Jemimah Rodrigues (76*) played a quickfire innings to help India post their highest score of the tournament so far.
For New Zealand, Suzie Bates (1/40 in 7 overs), Amelia Kerr (1/69 in 10 overs) and Rosemary Mair (1/52 in 8 overs) took one wicket each. Nevertheless, India’s top order proved too strong, allowing the hosts to reach a strong score. Brief scores: India Women 340/3 in 49 overs (Pratika Raval 122, Smriti Mandhana 109; Suzie Bates 1/40) vs New Zealand Women 271/8 in 44 overs (Brooke Halliday 81, Isabella Gage 65*; Renuka Singh 2/25).