Smriti Mandhana, the vice-captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, said it was nice to win the first ODI against New Zealand after a tough period in white-ball cricket during which the team failed to reach the semifinals of the T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates.
The difficult period for the Indian team started with a morale-shattering defeat to New Zealand in its opening match of the T20 World Cup. On Thursday, the team exacted revenge of sorts by beating the recently-crowned World Champions and taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Asked to bat first by New Zealand, India were bowled out for 227 with the Kerr sisters Amelia and Jess sharing seven wickets between them. The Indian team came back strongly to bundle out New Zealand for 168 and registered a 59-run win.
“It has been a tough 1.5-2 months, so nice to start 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,” said Smriti Mandhana, who was leading India as skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was unavailable due to a niggle.
Mandhana also praised pacer Saima Thakor, who bagged an early wicket for India. “Saima set the tone for us with Suzie’s wicket. She was brilliant. She has been around with us (for the past couple of months). She has been brilliant throughout and we have seen her work really hard. Really happy for her and hope this is just the start for her. Whoever batted today, we asked them what is the right length,” said Smriti in the post-game presentation.
Mandhana called all-rounder Deepti Sharma, who contributed a vital 41 runs and also claimed a crucial wicket. “Deepti is a superstar – she knows what to do. Radha also came in (and bowled well), Hemalatha also chipped in,” she said.
Deepti Sharma, who was adjudged as the Player of the Match, said it was an important win as it set the tone for the series. “It is important how you start because it sets the tone. I had belief in myself, whether it was bowling in the powerplay or when I was batting. We talked about not thinking about the total, and were just focusing on bowling in partnerships,” said Deepti.
Deepti also played a key role in running out New Zealand skipper Sophie Devine, who had moved out of the crease while blocking the ball and was caught out at the line. “It was not a lot. I thought she was outside her crease, so I felt throwing it (to Yastika) was a good option,” said Deepti.