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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Andhra to be developed as knowledge, creator economy hub: CM Naidu
New Delhi/Amaravati (PTI): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said the state is taking steps to transform itself into a knowledge and creator economy hub with a strong focus on artificial intelligence and quantum technology.
He noted that Andhra Pradesh has abundant tech-driven youth and the government is formulating plans to train them in futuristic technologies with support from global technology firms.
"Our goal is to transform Andhra Pradesh into a knowledge hub by focusing on AI, quantum computing, data centres, drone cities and space cities. The youth will remain our biggest asset over the next 25 years, and we seek global partnerships to scale up the creator economy," said Naidu during his interactions at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in Delhi.
Naidu, who participated in the summit in the national capital, also held meetings with several global technology leaders and industrialists to explore collaborations in artificial intelligence, clean energy and innovation ecosystems.
He met Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Autodesk AI Head Mike Haley, Aramco India Director Abdul Rehman AiThukair, LEGO Education Vice President Tom Hall, Aadhaar Founder and CTO Srikanth Nadhamuni, Khosla Ventures Managing Partner Vinod Khosla and others at the AP Pavilion.
The chief minister also held discussions with Saudi Aramco representatives on clean energy projects, including solar initiatives, and invited the company to expand operations in Andhra Pradesh, stating that the state is highly suitable for green energy production.
He sought support from NVIDIA Vice President Callista Redmond for establishing AI Living Labs and proposed partnerships through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub to promote youth innovation, including collaborations with IIT Tirupati and Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Tirupati under the Andhra Pradesh Future Innovation and Research for Science and Technology (AP FIRST) initiative.
Naidu urged Autodesk leadership to support the development of Global Capability Centres in design engineering and requested the establishment of an Innovation Academy in Amaravati aligned with quantum technology, besides proposing AI and robotics learning labs in partnership with LEGO Education.
He also discussed AI-driven smart governance solutions with Quantela Inc Chairman Sridhar Gadhi, while World Bank Group Digital AI Regional Director Mahesh Uttamchandani met Naidu on the sidelines of the summit.
Following the meetings, Naidu visited various exhibition stalls at the summit, including those of NVIDIA, Tata, Intel and Microsoft, and reviewed AI applications across agriculture, healthcare and industry.
