India Defeats New Zealand by 6 Wickets to Win Series 2-1, Smriti Mandhana Makes History !!

The Indian women’s cricket team has won the three-match ODI series against New Zealand 2-1. India defeated New Zealand by 6 wickets in the third and decisive match on Tuesday. New Zealand gave a target of 233 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, which India chased in 44.2 overs for the loss of four wickets. Opener Smriti Mandhana scored a century and captain Harmanpreet Kaur scored a half-century. India won the first match of the series by 59 and New Zealand by 76 runs.

Chasing the target, India did not have a good start. Opener Shefali Verma was dismissed after scoring 12 runs in 11 balls. She was caught by Hannah Rowe off Gaze in the fourth over. After this, Smriti Mandhana took charge with Yastika Bhatia. Both shared a 76-run partnership for the second wicket. Sophie Devine caught and bowled Yastika in the 21st over. 35 runs came from her bat in 49 balls, which included 4 fours.

Mandhana shared a strong partnership of 117 runs for the third wicket with captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Hannah bowled Mandhana in the 40th over. She scored 100 runs in 122 balls with the help of 10 fours. This is the eighth century of Mandhana’s ODI career. She has become the female cricketer to score the most ODI centuries for India. At the same time, Harmanpreet remained unbeaten after scoring 53 runs in 63 balls. She hit 6 fours. Harman hit the winning four. Jemima Rodrigues contributed 22 runs in 18 balls.

Earlier, after winning, India bundled out the New Zealand team for 232 runs in 49.5 overs. New Zealand started slowly. In the first 5 overs, the Kiwi team did not lose any wickets but scored only 14 runs. New Zealand got the first blow in the seventh over. Suzie Bates was run out after scoring 4 runs. Saima Thakor gave India the second success. She got Lauren Down (1) caught by Yastika Bhatia on the first ball of the eighth over. Priya Mishra bowled captain Sophie Devine in the 11th over. She scored 9 runs in 11 balls.

Georgia Plimer played an innings of 39 runs in 67 balls. She hit 6 fours. Priya dismissed Plimer in the 19th over. Maddie Green was run out in the 25th over. 15 runs came off her bat. Isabella Gage (25 off 49 balls) shared a 64-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Brooke Holiday. Deepti caught and bowled Gage in the 39th over. Holiday’s innings was ended by Deepti in the 46th over. She scored 86 runs in 96 balls with the help of 9 fours and 3 sixes. Hannah Rowe scored 11, and Eden Carson and Fran Jonas scored 2 each. Lea Tahuhu remained unbeaten at 24 off 14 balls.