Hamilton: The Indian women’s cricket team were beaten by a narrow margin of two runs in the third and final T20 game against New Zealand here Sunday. India thus lost the three-game series 0-3.
Chasing 162 for a win, star opening batswoman Smriti Mandhana (86, 62b, 12×4, 1×6) virtually took the team home, but the others failed to support her and India finished at 159 for four in reply to the Kiwi total of 161 for seven in 20 overs.
India surprising named senior player Mithali Raj in the playing XI and she contributed 24 not out from 20 balls after coming to bat at the fall of captain Harmanpreet Kaur (2). But she failed to hit a four from the final delivery bowled by Leigh Kasperek as India lost the match by two runs.
India needed 16 runs from the final over and Raj and Deepti Sharma (21 not out) raised hopes of a remarkable win by hitting boundaries in the first and third deliveries but were left to hit a four off the last ball.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur said she was disappointed at the result and the 0-3 series defeat. India had won the three-match ODI series 2-1 before this T20 contest.
“We are disappointed to lose the series like this, we could have done better. We have a lot of work to do,” she said after the game. “In T20 Internationals we need to make improvements in the final 10 overs of batting. More importantly, we need to sort out the batting order.”
Earlier electing to bat, New Zealand looked set to post a much bigger total by reaching 80 for two at the half-way stage but India came back strongly to force a batting collapse as the home side finally ended their innings at 161 for seven.
Hard-hitting opener Sophie Devine (72, 52b, 8×4 and 2×6) while captain Amy Satterthwaite (31, 23b, 3×4) supported her well. The duo’s 71-run stand for the third wicket from exactly eight overs was the highlight of the New Zealand innings.
Off-spinner Deepti Sharma (2/28) was the best bowler for India
Brief scores: New Zealand: 161 for 7 (Sophie Devine 72, Deepti Sharma 2/28) beat India Women: 159 for 4 (Smriti Mandhana 86, Sophie Devine 2/21) by two runs.
PTI