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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Middle East crisis: Oil prices cross $83 per barrel as Strait of Hormuz disruption hits supply
New Delhi: Global crude oil prices rose sharply on Thursday, crossing $83 per barrel, following Iran’s move to shut down the Strait of Hormuz amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Oil prices have increased by more than 2 per cent due to concerns over supply disruptions in the region, which is a key route for global energy shipments.
A sustained rise in crude prices could significantly affect India’s import bill. Government estimates indicate that an increase of $1 per barrel in crude oil prices for a full year could raise India’s import bill by around Rs 16,000 crore.
However, government sources said India remains in a relatively comfortable position in the short term. The country currently has crude oil reserves sufficient for about 25 days, along with an additional 25 days’ supply of petroleum products, including shipments already in transit to Indian ports.
India imports nearly 85 per cent of its crude oil requirements from the Middle East, with much of the supply traditionally passing through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical oil transit routes.
Officials said India has strengthened its energy security in recent years by diversifying its sources of crude oil imports. Supplies have increasingly been sourced from countries such as Russia, African nations and the United States, reducing dependence on Gulf routes.
As a result, a portion of India’s oil imports now bypasses the Strait of Hormuz.
India spent about $137 billion on crude oil imports in the financial year ending March 31, 2025. In the current financial year, from April 2025 to January 2026, the country spent approximately $100.4 billion to import 206.3 million tonnes of crude oil.
