Women's Cricket
Indian women win 5th ODI vs New Zealand, all three senior batters score 50s
Half-centuries by Mithali Raj, Smriti Mandhana, and Harmanpreet Kaur catapult India to victory after chasing down a total of 251 set by the White Ferns.
The Indian Women's Cricket Team fought back from a 4-0 series deficit to snatch victory in the final ODI of the five-match ODI series against New Zealand. This was the first ever match in which all three of India's senior batters - Mithali Raj (57*), Harmanpreet Kaur (63) and Smriti Mandhana (71) - scored half-centuries.
The first game of India's tour of NZ was a loss in the sole T20I played between the countries. New Zealand started the fifth ODI batting and set up a formidable total of 251 runs, but India's hard-hitting batting attack chased the total down to end with 255 runs with four overs to spare and six wickets in hand.
New Zealand started the innings with their mercurial opening pair of Sophie DeVine and Suzie Bates. However, Bates lost her wicket early. Amelia Kerr continued her amazing performances this series with a 66-run outing, but DeVine and Amy Satterthwaite couldn't establish long partnerships with Kerr. India took 5 wickets in the last 15 overs of the game to restrict NZ to a total of 251 runs.
India's built off their strong showing with the bat this series prior to the fourth ODI. Smriti Mandhana led from the front with a 71-run showing even after Shafali Verma and Deepti Sharma's early wickets. After Mandhana was caught out in the 29th over, captain Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur had an 80-run stand for almost 14 overs which put India in a commanding position. Raj finished the series off with a boundary to give India a much-needed win to salvage the series.
Smriti Mandhana proudly spoke about her knock and the team's performance after the game.
"I think our bowlers did a fantastic job by restricting them to 250. The wicket was a good one to bat one, so all the batters contributed as we got a good win. I am happy that I am back to form before the World Cup. I think this series was a big advantage for the whole team before the World Cup. We have had quite close matches, and all the girls are confident going into the World Cup. This win will help us and hopefully, we will take the confidence and momentum into the World Cup."
