Women's T20 WC: New Zealand thrash India by 58 runs as skipper does star turn
Dubai, Oct 4: A completely out of sorts India were trumped by opposition skipper Sophie Devine's flamboyant batting and tactical astuteness as New Zealand powered to 58-run win in a lopsided Women's T20 World Cup game here on Friday.
The 'White Ferns' also put an end to their 10-match losing streak with their biggest win against India in T20Is.
On a pitch which was extremely difficult for batting, Devine's power-packed unbeaten 57 off 36 balls took New Zealand to an above-par 160 for 4 in 20 overs.
The 35-year-old Kiwi legend then used her slow bowlers to first choke the 'Women in Blue' and then asked her seamers to take pace off deliveries blowing the opposition for a meagre 102 in 19 overs.
The difference between two sides was brute power, a mandatory requirement on such surfaces, which Devine and her two openers Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer possessed. For India, most of their batters didn't have enough muscle to even clear the 30-yard circle.
The game for all practical reasons was won and lost in the Powerplay. While Bates (27 off 24 balls) and young Plimmer (34 off 23 balls) added 55 in the first six overs, India lost their three potential game-changers, Shafali Verma (2), Smriti Mandhana (12) and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (15) in the Powerplay for only 43 runs.
The best part about Devine was that the batter in her understood what the skipper required to do. She started with left-arm spinner Eden Carson (2/34 in 4 overs) from one end and Shafali, who is never comfortable if pace is taken off deliveries, closed her bat face and a simple return catch lobbed to the bowler.
Mandhana, India's best and most consistent batter over the past few years, also tried to get going and was holed out in the deep while seamer Rosemary Mair (4/19 in 4 overs) bowled one that swung in to hit Harmanpreet on the pads.
Such was the slowness that even Lea Tahuhu (3/15 in 4 overs) had Jemimah Rodrigues trying to chip it over mid-on but the stroke lacked power and Richa Ghosh chipped one to mid-off as the Indian challenge fizzled out in a jiffy.
Earlier, on a sticky track where stroke-making was difficult, Devine muscled her way with seven boundaries as most Indian bowlers sans Deepti Sharma (0/45 in 4 overs) used the tackiness of the track to good effect for the better part of the innings.
Devine, who dropped herself in the batting order, displayed excellent footwork to dismantle the length bowled by Indian bowlers with the standout shot being a bent on knee cover-drive off Shreyanka Patil to complete her fifty.
One thing that stuck out like a sore thumb was poor ground fielding from India save Rodrigues, who was brilliant as usual in the deep.
Veteran Bates and young Plimmer rode their luck and some shoddy fielding from India to race to 55 at the end of the Powerplay.
However once leg-spinner Asha Sobhana (1/22 in 4 overs) started operating just after Powerplay, she immediately put brakes but once Devine started chancing her arms at the death, Indian bowlers were left with little option.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
