Deepti Sharma‘s all-round show (1-35 and 41) and Radha Yadav’s 3 for 35 steered India to victory in the first ODI against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, by 59 runs. Deepti Sharma emerged as a key player for India, contributing a valuable 41 runs. She was well supported by debutant Tejal Hasabnis, who scored 42 runs, and Yastika Bhatia, who added 37. The pair of Jemimah Rodrigues and Hasabnis forged a vital partnership, putting together 61 runs for the fifth wicket, which helped stabilize the innings after early wickets fell.
Deepti Sharma played a massive role for the India Women’s National Cricket Team in the win over the New Zealand Women’s National Cricket Team in the first ODI. The all-rounder shined for her team both with the bat as well as the ball and made sure that they started the series on high.
While her effort with the bat and ball was for everyone to see, Deepti Sharma stole the limelight with her great presence of mind. She, along with keeper Yastika Bhatia, outfoxed the New Zealand National Cricket Team skipper Sophie Devine and sent her packing early on in her innings.
Pitch Report and Toss
Pitch Report : The pitch at Narendra Modi Stadium offers a balanced surface in white-ball cricket. Both batters and bowlers can expect some help from the wicket at some point. Spin bowlers are likely to find more help once the ball gets old but fans might witness a high-scoring clash. Teams batting first have won 17 of 33 ODI games played here so the toss is unlikely to make the difference on Thursday.
Toss : IND -W skipper Smriti Mandhana won the toss and chose to bat with two debutants Tejal Hasabnis and Saima Thakor in the playing XI. NZ-W skipper Sophie Devine bowling first made 3 changes from the world cup winning squad with Lea Tahuhu, Fran Jonas and Rosemary Mair making way for Jess Kerr, Lauren Down and Molly Penfold.
Deepti Sharma’s 41 runs carries India to 227 after Kerr sisters 7 wickets
Having elected to bat first after winning the toss, India got off to a sedate start. Smriti Mandhana, who stood in as skipper for Harmanpreet Kaur (out with a niggle), was dismissed cheaply for five off Jess as she gave catching practice to backward point. But, Shafali Verma and new-batter Yastika Bhatia started attacking the New Zealand bowlers as the former took Jess for 17 runs in the 5th over. But she played one shot too many as she pulled Eden Carson straight to backward square.
India ran into deeper trouble after the PowerPlay as Dayalan Hemalatha and the well-set Bhatia both fell. But, Jemimah Rodrigues and debutant Tejal Hasabnis steadied the ship with a 61-run stand. Despite the lack of boundaries in the partnership, the two batters kept the scoreboard constantly ticking to not get bogged down at one end. Rodrigues was then trapped LBW while Hasabnis was stumped off Amelia.
India Women Batting Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNCricinfo
Deepti Sharma then took it upon herself to bat with the tail to push India above the 200-run mark, taking ones and twos along with the odd-boundary to keep the scoreboard moving. New Zealand picked the last four remaining wickets across four consecutive overs. Arundhati Reddy who gave her company, then found deep mid-wicket off Amelia while Radha Yadav fell to her sister Jess in the next over. Saima Thakor fell for two while Deepti Sharma was stumped on 41 to bring the innings to an abrupt end at 227 all-out.
It was not the perfect start for Mandhana, who was leading India in an ODI for the first time. She fell cheaply, cutting one straight to backward point. But Shafali looked to bring a gear that we hardly saw at the T20 World Cup, particularly targeting Jess Kerr. She used the pull shot to good effect and then dispatched a length ball over the sightscreen. But she pulled Carson’s first ball straight to square leg to fall cheaply.
New Zealand Women Bowling Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNCricinfo
A couple of 20-something partnerships followed – first between Bhatia and Dayalan Hemalatha, who batted at No. 4 in Harmanpreet’s absence, and then between Bhatia and Jemimah Rodrigues. It was only when Rodrigues combined with Hasabnis that there came a sense of stability in the Indian batting.
The pair looked particularly at ease against spin, maneuvering the ball in the outfield to keep the scorecard ticking. Hasabnis showed her prowess against spin specifically when she went deep in the crease against Amelia’s legspin to slice it past backward point. The pair increased the pace as they went along in their 61-run partnership of just 70 balls.
But Rodrigues missed a clip off Bates and was adjudged lbw, the review returning an umpire’s call on impact. Then on 42, Hasabnis could not resist charging at a tossed-up delivery from Amelia and was stumped. Deepti Sharma , who walked in at No. 7, showed a lot of intent from the start. She hit a couple of fours and a six in her 41, her best score in ODIs since September 2022. Her innings capsulated the theme of India’s innings – that of batters getting starts but not carrying on. Five India batters made more than 30 but none crossed 42.
Deepti Sharma’s brilliance in the field restricts NZ as India goes up 1-0 .
New Zealand didn’t fare any better than India at the start of their innings as veteran Suzie Bates was dismissed cheaply for one off debutant Thakor. Her partner, Georgia Plimmer who had an outstanding T20 World Cup earlier this month, began to plunder the runs. She hit couple of boundaries to get her eye in before clinching three boundaries in a 12-run over off Thakor.
Deepti Sharma was brought in to bowl in the PowerPlay and the move worked for the hosts. Plimmer was almost caught by the offspinner of her own bowling, but it landed short. But her luck ran out as on the next ball, she was caught by the bowler. Skipper Sophie Devine was then run-out in bizarre fashion. Having defended a ball out of her crease, the bowler was quick to throw the ball to Yastika, who took the bails while Devine’s foot was on the line, leaving the visitors 46 for 3.
New Zealand Women Batting Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNCricinfo
Lauren Down and Brooke Halliday had a mini partnership before the former was caught at mid-off. Maddy Green and Halliday then forged a 49-run stand which threatened to take the game away from India. But Halliday fell to Thakor off her own bowling while Green was run-out few balls later, a major blow for the tourists. Jess too walked back to the sheds for three as India tightened the squeeze.
Amelia Kerr finally walked out to bat at nine and threatened to take the game deep to give New Zealand a chance. But Isabella Gaze holed out to long-on after which Radha cleaned up Molly Penfold. Carson was then the third batter to be run-out as India sealed the win by 59 runs.
While her effort with the bat and ball was for everyone to see, Deepti Sharma stole the limelight with her great presence of mind. She, along with keeper Yastika Bhatia, outfoxed the New Zealand National Cricket Team skipper Sophie Devine and sent her packing early on in her innings.
India Women Bowling Line Up. Pic Credits: ESPNCricifo
Deepti Sharma bowled a short delivery, which was defended by Sophie Devine. She came out to defend it to the left of the bowler. The bowler gathered the ball and threw it to the keeper-batter, Yastika Bhatia, behind the stumps.
Sophie Devine stepped back and plonked her right foot back but her boot didn’t cross the crease. It was on the line as Yastika removed the bails. Both the batter and the bowler stared at each other before the latter under-armed the ball to Yastika.
Sophie Devine could have easily gone back into her crease after defending. But instead, she stood her ground and waited to see what Deepti Sharma would do. The all-rounder first mocked a throw and then took a second before under-arming the throw to Yastika. Devine walked back a couple of steps once she saw the ball lobbed back but did not get in before Yastika removed the bails.
That looked to be case even more when Georgia Plimmer got off to a flier. She hit a flurry of boundaries off Thakor and Renuka Singh, both of whom erred by bowling on her pads. The idea was not all wrong – Thakor was getting the ball to shape away, and hence was trying for the magic ball. There was merit in her bowling plan after it paid dividends on her third ball in internationals. She got one to nip away ever-so slightly to entice a poke from Bates and feather an edge behind.
Renuka used the width of the bowling crease to bowl the in-anglers but it played into the hands of Plimmer and Lauren Down, batting at No. 3 after Amelia was seen limping towards the end of the bowling innings. But Deepti Sharma then used her experience to prise out Plimmer. She slowed the flighted ball down and made the batter force the issue, only for her to chip a return catch back.
Deepti’s street-smartness then helped India see the back of New Zealand captain Sophie Devine. Devine, who stepped down from T20I captaincy after the T20 World Cup, pushed one towards Deepti but stood out of her crease. Deepti threw the ball back at wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia even as Devine took a few steps back, but no part of her foot was inside the crease.
Radha then managed to have Down miscue one to mid-off an over after a leading edge landed short of the same region. Which is when the real domination came from New Zealand with the bat. Brooke Halliday and Maddy Green combined to play a clinical game. They used the crease to manufacture boundaries regularly, most of them behind square on either side.
Green first scooped one fine down leg, cut one fiercely past backward point and then sliced one over the same region. Halliday even used the reverse sweep early. They added 49 off 63 balls for the fifth wicket. Smriti Mandhana, captaining India after Harmanpreet Kaur missed out due to a niggle, brought in Shafali Verma in a bid to change a few things but she was hit for a couple of fours in an over.
Thakor then broke through, in the third over of her second spell. She got one to stop on Halliday and managed to catch hold of the caught and bowled chance. Three balls later, Mandhana nailed a direct hit at the striker’s end to send Green back. And there was no looking back from there for India. They struck regularly, with only Amelia’s 55-ball stand with Isabella Gaze for the eighth wicket delaying the inevitable.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Smriti Mandhana the winning skipper said : Tough last one-and-half, two months, really happy to start off with a win. [on when they believed that they could win] Right from the first ball, if you don’t believe in cricket, you won’t be able to do it. We had a good huddle talk, we felt we were under-par and Saima set the tone for us.
[on Saima] She has been around with us for the last one-and-half, two months, she has been brilliant throughout, really happy for her and hope this is just the start for her. Whoever batted today, we asked them what is a good length, Deepti is a superstar, she knows what she is doing. Radha and Hema also chipped in, the wicket assisted the spinners in the middle phase.
Sophie Devine the losing skipper said : We did a fantastic job to restrict them. It was a very good cricket wicket, we thought 260-270 was par, we were confident at the innings break but when you lose wickets consistently, it is difficult . When you take wickets it generally slows down the scoring rate, the way India started we thought it was going to be 350-400 but we did well to restrict them to 227.
[on Amelia Kerr] She has a tight quad, but she will rest up, have a couple of scans done and fingers crossed she will be fine. Anytime you put on the Silver Ferns cap we expect better of us, we will have a couple of days off and we will try and hit the ground running on Sunday.
Deepti Sharma Player of the Match for her all round efforts said : It is important how you start and I had the belief in myself. I had the mindset when I went to bat and even on how to provide the breakthroughs. The bat is new but I played with it during the World Cup, I enjoyed it a lot.
As a bowling unit, we concentrated on bowling well and not think about the total we had on the board, we wanted to bowl in partnerships, that’s what we did. [on the Devine run-out] I thought throwing was the better option.
It looked like 227 would not be enough for India at the halfway mark but a brilliant bowling performance has seen them win by 59 runs. Saima started it off with Bates’ wicket and the injury to Amelia Kerr pushed New Zealand further back. Down came at 3 as a result and took her time to get in. India took regular wickets with Devine’s a gift.
So careless and casual from the New Zealand skipper and that probably was the turning point. Still New Zealand fought back with Green and Halliday’s stand, but both went in the same over and the game tilted towards India’s way. Amelia Kerr eventually came in at 9 and her partnership with Gaze gave India a few jitters but the latter was dismissed trying a big hit and the end came pretty soon as a run-out ended things. New Zealand would be disappointed at not chasing down this score on a pretty good batting wicket. India go 1-0 up.
India with a comfortable win in the end. New Zealand need points as they look to gain an automatic berth for the next year’s ODI World Cup in India. That’s what gives this series much-needed context.