A shoddy batting performance by the middle-order saw Indian women lose a nail-biting second T20 International to New Zealand by four wickets and concede the three-match series here on Friday.
The Indian women had earlier lost the first T20I by 23 runs in Wellington. Needing a win to keep the series alive, Indian women posted a modest 135 for six despite being 72 for two after the first 10 overs.
New Zealand made heavy weather of the chase before scampering home off the last ball.
‘20 runs short’
“I think we should give credit to our bowlers, it wasn’t a good total but still they fought for us. We were 20 runs short. They played better cricket than us. We just need to learn from our mistakes and play better,” India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said.
Jemimah Rodrigues slammed a 53-ball 72 that included six boundaries and a six but India scored only 63 runs in the back 10 to end up 20 runs short.
The White Ferns lost two quick wickets — opener Sophie Devine and Caitlin Gurrey by the seventh over with the scoreboard reading 40.
But, Suzie Bates (62) and Amy Satterthwaite (23) joined hands to stitch a 61-run partnership for the third wicket.
Left-arm orthodox bowler Radha Yadav and medium-pacer Arundhati Reddy bowled well in the middle overs to take the match down to the wire.
Arundhati, in fact, brought India back into the match with twin blows in the 18th over — first a set Bates and then Anna Peterson for a first-ball duck.
New Zealand needed nine runs off the last over and Katey Martin smacked Mansi Joshi for a boundary off the first ball to bring down the equation to five off five balls.
Joshi, however, got her revenge by getting through the defence of Martin off the next ball. But it was not to be India’s day as some sloppy fielding and sensible batting by Hannah Rowe and Leigh Kasperek took New Zealand home.
“We probably should have done that a lot easier than what we did. But I am happy. Feels like it’s been a while since we won a series,” New Zealand captain Satherwaite said.
Lack of support
Earlier, Jemimah, with in-form opener Smriti Mandhana (36, 27b), added 63 runs for the second wicket to lay the base for the total after the visitors lost opener Priya Punia (4) early.
Invited to bat, India women struggled to put up partnerships and the one between Smriti and Jemimah saved the visitors’ from humiliation.
Jemimah posted her fifth T20 fifty but didn’t get enough support from the other end. She got out in the penultimate over trying to go for big shots, stumped by Katey Martin off leg-spinner Amelia Kerr.
Scoreboard
INDIA: Priya Punia c Satterthwaite b Devine 4 (10b), Smriti Mandhana c Bates b Mair 36 (27b, 3x4, 1x6), Jemimah Rodrigues st Martin b Kerr 72 (53b, 6x4, 1x6), Harmanpreet Kaur c Satterthwaite b Kasperek 5 (5b, 1x4), D. Hemalatha retd. hurt 2 (5b), Deepti Sharma run out 6 (8b), Arundhati Reddy c Kerr b Mair 3 (6b), Radha Yadav (not out) 6 (5b), Mansi Joshi (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (lb-1): 1. Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 135.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-8 (Punia, 2.2), 2-71 (Mandhana 9.4), 3-79 (Harmanpreet, 10.6), 4-101 (Deepti, 15.3), 5-129 (Jemimah, 18.5), 6-131 (Arundhati, 19.3).
NEW ZEALAND BOWLING: Peterson 3-0-22-0, Tahuhu 4-0-28-0, Devine 2-0-16-1, Kerr 4-0-31-1, Kasperek 3-0-20-1, Mair 4-0-17-2.
NEW ZEALAND: Sophie Devine b Radha 19 (16b, 3x4), Suzie Bates c Jemimah b Arundhati 62 (52b, 5x4), Caitlin Gurrey c Deepti b Radha 4 (11b, 1x4), Amy Satterthwaite c Punia b Poonam 23 (20b, 3x4), Katey Martin b Mansi 13 (12b, 1x4), Anna Peterson c Deepti b Arundhati 0 (1b), Leigh Kasperek (not out) 4 (5b), Hannah Rowe (not out) 4 (3b); Extras (b-2, lb-3, w-2): 7. Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 136.
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-33 (Devine, 4.4), 2-40 (Gurrey, 6.4), 3-101 (Satterthwaite, 14.4), 4-118 (Bates, 17.2), 5-119 (Peterson, 17.4), 6-131 (Martin, 19.2).
INDIA BOWLING: Deepti 4-0-19-0, Mansi 4-0-35-1, Radha 4-0-23-2, Arundhati 4-0-22-2, Poonam 4-0-32-1.
Toss: New Zealand.
Player-of-the-Match: Bates.
New Zealand won by four wickets off the last ball to take a 2-0 lead in three-match series.
