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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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
