Winning the third and the last match of the One Day International series between India women and New Zealand women must have been comforting for white ferns. As New Zealand Captain, Amy Satterthwaite puts it, that it was about pride for them. They managed to evade a clean sweep by women in blue. The hosts bounced back after losing the first two matches to India and won the third ODI by 8 wickets. This is the first time that India women have won a complete ODI series in New Zealand. They won a one-off match in 1995. After winning the match, New Zealand women again jumped to the second position in the ICC Women’s Championship points table and India women slipped to the third position.
Amy Satterthwaite won the toss and decided for her team to chase. India women could not manage to put up a good total on the scoreboard, owing to the fact that the openers could not lay a strong foundation. After scoring the highest runs in the first two matches, Smriti Mandhana threw her wicket early in the game. Deepti Sharma came in and Jemimah Rodigues too walked off the crease. Deepti Sharma stood strong and scored 52 runs in 90 balls. The wickets kept on falling for India and the team got all out for 149 in less than 45 overs. Credits to Anna Peterson, she took important wickets of Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj, Deepti Sharma and Shikha Pandey. Her bowling figures of 4 for 28 won her the ‘Player of the Match’ award. Lae Tahuhu contributed for 3 dismissals. Amelia Kerr and Bernadine Bezuidenhout took 2 and 1 wickets respectively.
Chasing 150 was not a difficult task for kiwi women. Instead of Sophie Devine, Lauren Down came to open the innings with Suzie Bates. The openers looked comfortable until Down fell for a run out. From there, skipper Amy Satterthwaite and Suzie Bates partnered for 84 runs. The boundaries kept coming in and Bates scored her half-century with a four in the 20th over. Bates was bowled out by Poonam Yadav in the very next over and Sophie Devine came to bat at no. 4 to join Satterthwaite. 44 runs were needed to win and Satterthwaite, who has been playing good against the spinners in the series brought her second consecutive and 20th ODI half-century with a four. Devine scored 17 runs and the captain brought her team the win by 8 wickets with a four in 29.2 overs.
The dominance of Indian team in the first two matches and New Zealand bouncing back in the last match to escape a clean sweep:
1st ODI: India women won by 9 wickets. New Zealand: 192 (48.4) ; India: 193/1 (33)
2nd ODI: India women won by 8 wickets. New Zealand: 161 (44.2) ; India 166/2 (35.2)
3rd ODI: New Zealand women won by 8 wickets. India: 149 (44) ; New Zealand: 153/2 (29.2)
Smriti Mandhana was declared ‘Player of the Series’ for her stellar performances with bat in the first two matches. The dominance of guests in the ODI series is a welcome news for them because New Zealand plays the host in 2021 world cup too.
The ODI in Hamilton was Mithali Raj’s 200 ODI. She is the first woman to achieve the milestone. First, she broke the record of playing the maximum number of ODIs after crossing her 192nd match, leaving behind the former captain of England, Charlotte Edwards. Out of 263 ODI matches, India women has ever played, Mithali Raj has featured in 200 of them. She says that 200 is just a number for her and she is happy to have represent her country for so long.
MILESTONE!
The day has finally arrived! #MithaliRaj who played her first ODI on Jun 26, 1999 is all set to play her 200th ODI today on 1st Feb 2019 (The duration of her international career is now 19 years and 218 days).
WHAT A LEGEND, WHAT A PLAYER! ????
Take a bow, Captain! pic.twitter.com/phMrQ4ullL— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 31, 2019
Smriti Mandhana was declared ‘Player of the Series’ for her stellar performances with bat in the first two matches. The series win will also matter to the Indian team as New Zealand will host the 2021 world cup too. Next India and New Zealand will take on each other in the T20 series starting from February 6.
200 is just a number – says @M_Raj03 who recently became the first female cricketer ever to play 200 ODIs ?????? #MithaliRaj #India #bcciwomen pic.twitter.com/YwIz5if3HP
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 2, 2019
Mithali Raj becomes the first woman cricketer to play 200 One-Day Internationals. What a player, what a legend!! #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/2POi1uV0Tu
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) February 1, 2019
Next, India and New Zealand will take on each other in the T20 series of 3 matches starting from February 6. India beat New Zealand by 34 runs, the last time when the two teams played against each other in the opening match of World T20 in November.
