India women beat New Zealand by 9 wickets in 1st ODI
Napier, Jan 24: The in-form Smriti Mandhana and teen sensation Jemimah Rodrigues hammered New Zealand's clueless bowling attack to steer India to an emphatic nine-wicket triumph in the opening ODI of a three-match series here Thursday.
The 22-year-old Mandhana (105) and the 18-year-old Rodrigues (81 not out) put together a batting masterclass after the bowlers did the job for India by bundling out New Zealand for a below-par 192.
Competing in their first series after the furore that followed the team's T20 World Cup exit in the semifinals last year, the Indians produced a thoroughly clinical performance to eke out the comfortable victory in 33 overs.
While Mandhana, fresh from winning the ICC women's cricketer of the year award, slammed her fourth ODI hundred, Rodrigues notched up her maiden international half century.
"I think it's great to start the series with a win and wonderful to see openers get an over 100-run partnership. I think lot of girls do look up to Mandhana. She had a great 2018 and she is continuing and it gives a lot of confidence to the dressing room," India captain Mithali Raj said in the post-match presentation.
"But easy catches should have been taken. We are definitely not overconfident," she added, referring to the shortcomings she noticed.
Mandhana and Rodrigues stitched together the highest ever opening wicket stand against New Zealand -- a 190-run partnership that stood for 32.2 overs. Rodrigues was making just her fifth appearance in national colours.
Mandhana's 104-ball knock included nine fours and three sixes, while Rodrigues managed nine hits to the fence.
"The wicket was great to bat on. We played according to the merit of the balls and it was a great innings," she said.
An overcast sky meant that the two teams did not face the sun-strike that halted play for nearly half an hour in the men's game on Wednesday.
Earlier, put in to bat, New Zealand let slip a good start and crumbled in the face of India's relentless spin combination of Poonam Yadav and Ekta Bisht.
Both Bisht and Yadav snared three wickets each to put the visiting side on top.
Yadav, in fact, ripped through the White Ferns' middle order, claiming the scalps of skipper Amy Satterthwaite (31), Lauren Down (0) and Amelia Kerr (28) in her quota of 10 overs.
This was after Susie Bates (38) and Sophie Devine (28) gave New Zealand a solid start.
But Devine's run out by Deepti Sharma triggered a collapse and New Zealand folded in 48.4 overs. Bates' 38 off 54 balls, including a couple of fours, was the best that any home batsman could manage.
The next match of the series will be played in Mount Maunganui on January 29.
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Jharkhand horror: Man kills live-in partner, chops body into 40 pieces
Ranchi (PTI): A 25-year-old man, who works as a butcher, allegedly strangled to death his live-in partner and chopped her body into 40 to 50 pieces in a forested area in Jharkhand’s Khunti district, police said on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Naresh Bhengra, was arrested.
The matter came to light after around a fortnight after the killing when a stray dog was found with human body parts near Jordag village in Jariagarh police station on November 24.
Bhengra was in a live-in relationship with the deceased, a 24-year-old woman also from Khunti district, in Tamil Nadu for the past couple of years. Sometime back, he returned to Jharkhand, got married to another woman without telling his partner anything and went back to the southern state without his wife to join her.
"The brutal incident occurred on November 8 when they reached Khunti as the accused who had married another woman did not wish to take her home. Instead, he took her to a forest near his house at Jordag village in Jariagarh police station and chopped the body into pieces. The man has been arrested," Khunti Superintendent of Police Aman Kumar told PTI.
Inspector Ashok Singh who investigated the case said the man worked in a butcher shop in Tamil Nadu and was expert in slicing chicken.
“He admitted chopping the body parts of the woman into 40 to 50 pieces before leaving those in the forest for wild animals to feast on. The police recovered several parts on November 24 after a dog in the area was seen with a hand," Singh told PTI.
Singh said that the woman, who was unaware of his marriage, pressured him to return to Khunti. After reaching Ranchi, they boarded a train on November 24 and headed to the man's village.
"Under a plan, the man took her to Khunti in an autorickshaw near his home and asked her to wait. He returned with sharp weapons and strangulated her with her dupatta after raping her. He then cut the body into 40 to 50 pieces and left for his home to live with his wife," Singh said.
The woman, however, had informed her mother that she had boarded a train and would be living with her partner, the police officer said.
Following the recovery of body parts, a bag was also found in the forest with the murdered woman's belongings including her Aadhaar card. The mother of the woman was called at the spot and she identified her daughter's belongings.
"The mother suspected the man behind the crime who after being nabbed by the police admitted to chopping the woman into pieces," the official added.
The incident has sent shockwaves among people in the region, with the Shraddha Walker murder case of 2022 still fresh in their memory.
Walker was killed by her live-in partner who chopped her body into pieces before dumping them in the jungle in South Delhi’s Mehrauli.
