ICC Women's WT20: Ton-Up Harmanpreet Kaur Fires India To Thumping Win Over New Zealand

Riding on a stunning ton from their skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, India began their World T20 campaign with a bang by beating New Zealand on Friday.

It is the first time, the women’s World T20 is being conducted separately and the organisers could not have asked for a better start as Guyana’s Providence Stadium was showered with fours and sixes. Harmanpreet hit eight sixes and seven fours during her knock as she reached her ton off just 49 balls. In doing so, the India skipper became the first Indian to score a T20I ton. She was well supported by Jemimah Rodrigues who scored a brilliant fifty.

Rodrigues walked in to bat when India lost Taniya Bhatia in the very second over. She soon saw Smriti Mandhana and Dayalan Hemalatha departing cheaply as India found themselves reeling at 40 for 3. With the team in such a precarious situation, Harmanpreet was cautious at the start.

 

ICC Women's WT20: Ton-Up Harmanpreet Kaur Fires India To Thumping Win Over New Zealand

But it did not take long for Harmanpreet to get going. India reached their hundred in the 14th over. With Harmanpreet finding her groove, boundaries started coming consistently.  The right-hander reached her fifty off 33 balls, scoring 45 off just 20 balls after scoring just 5 runs off the first 13 balls she faced.

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And while Rodrigues departed after scoring her fifty, Harmanpreet went on to score a memorable ton. Consequently, India posted 194 for 5, the biggest score in WWT20.

In reply, Suzie Bates gave New Zealand a good start. They raced away to fifty inside the first 6 overs without losing any wicket. But once Dayalan Hemalatha dismissed Anna Peterson, the floodgates opened. New Zealand kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Bates waged a lone battle by scoring 67 but New Zealand eventually ended up on 160 for 9.

Brief Scores:

India 194/5 (Harmanpreet Kaur 103, Jemimah Rodrigues 59, Lea Tahuhu 2-18) beat New Zealand 160/9 (Suzie Bates 67, Katey Martin 39, Dayalan Hemalatha 3-26, Poonam Yadav 3-33) by 34 runs.

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