Hamilton: India will face hosts New Zealand in the 8th match of the Women’s World Cup 2022 at Seddon Park in Hamilton, after thrashing arch-rivals Pakistan in a one-sided lung-opener.
India would like to keep the momentum going following their first-round victory. Before the World Cup, India played New Zealand six times. However, they only managed to win one of those matches, losing the other five. Following that, they lost their first four ODIs, but won the fifth and got some momentum.
The Women in Blue defeated South Africa and the West Indies in their two warm-up matches. Then, in their first World Cup match, they defeated Pakistan convincingly. Even they started off on a winning note, there would be a lot for improvement in their World Cup 2022 campaign.
Mithali Raj and her side would like to put up a stronger display against Sophie Devine’s White Ferns, who had a wonderful run in the just-finished bilateral series, on the Seddon Park ground, which has a history of being a batting belter.
Shafali Verma, who has had a difficult time of late and was bowled out for a duck against Pakistan, will be trying to kick up a gear. After a lackluster performance against Pakistan, the middle order will be looking to make apologies. Mithali Raj received nine points, Harmanpreet Kaur scored five, while Richa Ghosh scored only one. Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar came to the rescue with a record 122-run partnership, propelling India to a formidable 244/7. The bowlers, on the other hand, were on point from the beginning, dismissing Pakistan for 137 runs.
Hello 👋🏻 Hamilton#TeamIndia | #CWC22 pic.twitter.com/U1r3ACEzle
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) March 7, 2022
While New Zealand didn’t get off to the best of starts, barely losing to the West Indies in their first match. They rebounded well against Bangladesh, winning by 9 wickets in a rain-affected encounter.
Bangladesh were restricted to 140/8 in 27 overs thanks to Satterthwaite’s 3/25. The White Ferns lost Sophie Devine early in their chase for the mark, but Suzie Bates (79 off 68 balls) and Amelia Kerr (47 off 37 balls) launched a counter-offensive to complete the deal in 20 overs with nine wickets to spare.
India will be looking to avenge their ODI series loss, while the Kiwis will be looking to put points on the board.
Squads
India: Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav. Standby Players: S Meghana, Ekta Bisht, Simran Dil Bahadur
New Zealand: Sophie Devine (Captain), Amy Satterthwaite (Vice-Captain), Suzie Bates, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hayley Jensen, Fran Jonas, Jess Kerr, Amelia Kerr, Frances Mackay, Rosemary Mair, Katey Martin, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu. Reserve Players: Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer
