Express News Service
CHENNAI: If there ever was a perfect game for India on the tour of New Zealand, this was it. Their first-choice front line pacers – Meghna Singh and Jhulan Goswami – were available for selection and in fact, picked wickets early in the power play and spinners broke partnerships in the middle-overs.
Smriti Mandhana (71) and Harmanpreet Kaur (63), whose form was under scrutiny, scored half-centuries along with skipper Mithali Raj (54 n.o). More than registering their only win of the bilateral tour before the World Cup, in Mithali’s own words, they were able to play a XI that’s closest to their strongest.
While the third seamer is still a concern going into the tournament, India turned to their spin quartet, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Poonam Yadav, and they delivered, taking seven wickets between them.
With the bat, chasemaster Mandhana, who averages 69.94 in successful run chases, provided the visitors with the perfect start they could have asked for. India’s next stop is a couple of warm-up matches before they take on Pakistan in their opening game of the World Cup on March 6. Brief scores: NZ 251/9 in 50 ovs lost to India 252/4 (Mandhana 71; Jensen 1/29).
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