Half Centuries by Captain Suzie Bates and Rachel Priest and their 125 run opening stand took New Zealand to an easy six wicket over India for a 2-1 lead in their five-match women’s One-Day International (ODI) series on Friday.
Both Bates and Priest had some close calls as they started their innings but as the ball became a bit older, runs came by easily. Bates got out at 59 from 87 balls which included 7 fours and Priest scored 64 from 101 balls which had 7 fours and 1 six.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Earlier, Indians had put up a fighting 182. Skipper Mithali Raj’s 30, Veda Krishnamurthy 61 and Deepti Sharma’s 22 were responsible for the tough challenge put in front of Kiwis. Krishnamurthy batted with panache and played some excellent strokes. Krishnamurthy and Sharma were involved in a 71-run stand for the fifth wicket before the Kiwis checked the progress, although a small cameo by Niranjana Nanjappa (12 off seven balls) took India past the 180-run mark.
However, what seemed to be a difficult task, was overhauled easily by the visitors, thanks to the century opening stand between Bates and Priest. Although, they lost some quick wickets they were not to be denied after the start they got.
New Zealand, thus, staged a fine comeback after losing the series opener to win the next two games for a 2-1 advantage. The fourth match is scheduled for Monday and the series will conclude on Wednesday before the teams play three T20 games.
Brief scores:
India 182 for 9 in 50 overs (Mithali Raj 30, Veda Krishnamurthy 61, Deepti Sharma 22, Sophie Devine 3 for 30) lost to New Zealand 186 for 4 in 45.4 overs (Suzie Bates 59, Rachel Priest 62, Amy Satterhwaite 22)
