New Zealand women win 1st T20
Mandhana shines but India fail
Wellington, Feb 6: Smriti Mandhana remained an unstoppable juggernaut with a record-smashing half century but the Indian women's cricket team failed to make it count, going down by 23 runs in the opening T20 International against New Zealand here Wednesday.
Mandhana held the record for the fastest fifty by an Indian before the match and she bettered it by a ball during her 58-run knock at the WestPac Stadium. The Indian faced 34 balls in all but reached the 50-mark off 24 deliveries.
However, New Zealand pacer Lea Tahuhu played a decisive role with three scalps off her four overs to derail India's chase, which was going smoothly till the time Mandhana was at the crease. India eventually folded for 136 in 19.1 overs.
Leg-spinner Amelia Kerr (2/28) clinched the crucial wickets of Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur to wreck the visitors' chances. Off-spinner Leigh Kasperek also picked up a couple of wickets.
Veteran Mithali Raj, who captains the Indian ODI side, was dropped from the match. The next game of the series is scheduled to be held in Auckland on Friday.
Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues (39 off 33 balls) combined for a 102-run second-wicket stand that should have been a solid foundation for the rest of the line-up.
But India collapsed in the face of an inspired performance by Lahuhu.
From 101/1, the visiting team was down to 117/6 in a matter of five overs that turned the match on its head.
Harmanpreet (17 off 15 balls) played out a small cameo, including a massive six off Kerr, but couldn't steer the team home, failing to find any support at the other end.
Mandhana was her usual aggressive self and played another strokeful knock, studded with seven hits to the fence and three sixes. The 22-year-old is enjoying a stellar run of form and was recently adjudged the ICC's woman cricketer of the year.
Earlier, opening batswoman Sophie Devine smashed a 48-ball 62 in an enterprising innings to take New Zealand women to a challenging 159 for 4 from 20 overs after being put into bat.
Devine's aggressive innings was laced with six boundaries and two sixes. She and captain Amy Satterthwaite (33 off 27 balls) shared a 69-run stand for the third wicket to steer New Zealand out of trouble after a stuttering start.
Spinners Radha Yadav and Poonam Yadav dismissed Suzie Bates (7) and Caitlin Gurrey (15) cheaply to reduce the home side to 47 for 2 at the end of the seventh over. But the Indians failed to make further dents with Divine and Satterthwaite denying them any success for 8.3 overs.
Devine and Satterthwaite fell in the space of six deliveries off the bowling of Arundhati Reddy and Deepti Sharma in the 16th and 17th overs respectively but New Zealand still made a late flourish by scoring 38 runs from the final 3.3 overs.
Wicketkeeper Katey Martin remained not out on 27 from 14 balls as the home team scored 16 runs from the final over.
Martin hit a six off the second ball of the final over as well as from the last delivery of the innings.
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K’taka cabinet approves cricket matches at M. Chinnaswamy stadium: Reports
Belagavi: The state cabinet under the Chairmanship of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has reportedly given its nod to permit cricket matches at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, subject to certain conditions.
The decision is learnt to have been taken after a meeting held at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha here on Thursday.
Reports indicate that Home Minister Dr G. Parameshwara has been directed to formulate rules along with a referendum to hold a cricket match at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The cabinet’s approval comes subject to conditions, considering the report of Justice D’Cunha, which was prepared after the stampede.
The June 4 stampede during the celebrations for RCB’s maiden IPL title killed 11 people, which raised serious questions over the stadium's capability to host large-scale events.
Will RCB be playing at their home ground next year?
Stating that the “state had learned from the tragedy,” Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Monday, December 08, dismissed the talks about shifting Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s home games out of the city.
He also said that the Chinnaswamy Stadium is the “pride of Bengaluru and Karnataka” and vowed that IPL fixtures will continue to be played there.
On Wednesday, Shivakumar met the newly elected KSCA president Venkatesh Prasad at the Circuit House in Belagavi and reiterated that cricket matches, including IPL fixtures, will not be shifted out of Bengaluru.
“We have no intention of stopping matches at Chinnaswamy Stadium, but crowd control measures and the Michael D. Cunha committee’s recommendations will be implemented in phases,” he told reporters.
Shivakumar said the government is committed to promoting cricket and supporting fans while safeguarding the state’s reputation, adding that Prasad had sought the government’s cooperation and agreed to work jointly on the issue.
