In the match played between India and New Zealand on Thursday, Indian women registered a resounding victory with the help of good innings from Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur, and Mithali Raj. After India’s victory, Indian captain Mithali Raj said as ANI reports, “that the new talent coming after her retirement will give more strength to this team.”
In this last ODI against New Zealand played at John Davies Oval, Queenstown, India defeated New Zealand by a huge margin of six wickets. Mithali Raj said as ANI reports, “that the team has improved a lot in the last few matches which is a good sign ahead of the World Cup.”
With this win, India secured their first win in this series of five ODIs. The Indian team series lost by a huge margin of 4-1 but winning the last match must have boosted their confidence.
India had got a target of 252 runs to win this match, in response to which Indian star opener Smriti Mandhana played a tremendous inning of 71 runs and gave the team a great start. Smriti Mandhana along with Deepti Sharma added 60 runs for the second wicket and laid the foundation for India’s victory. Along with Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur also scored 63 runs at a 95.4 strike rate. Indian captain Mithali Raj, who came to bat at number five, took full advantage of the start given by both these batter and chased the target of 252 runs in 46 overs.
Along with the batters, Indian bowlers Rajeshwari Gaikwad, Deepti Sharma, and Sneh Rana also bowled brilliantly. Indian captain Mithali Raj praised both the bowling and batting after the match but Mithali conceded that the team’s fielding still needed improvement.