WOMEN’S CRICKET | A hurting India will look to convey high-flying Kiwis all the way down to earth

Indian crew gamers throughout a apply session forward of the first ODI in opposition to New Zealand on the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, Gujarat on Wednesday October 23, 2024.
| Picture Credit score: VIJAY SONEJI

There was this tall, athletic girl from Auckland one got here throughout on a cold, windy afternoon at Wimbledon final week. Maree, in London to go to her daughter, has performed aggressive cricket again residence, and he or she was speaking, with a tinge of disappointment, about New Zealand’s underachievement regardless of producing champion cricketers like Martin Crowe.

Maree have to be a cheerful girl now — after that Tremendous Sunday for New Zealand cricket.

At Bengaluru, the boys gained a Check match for the primary time in India in 36 years. Just a few hours later, throughout the Arabian Sea at Dubai, the ladies gained the T20 World Cup, for the primary time ever.

If the Arabian nights offered reminiscences of a lifetime for New Zealand’s feminine cricketers, they had been a nightmare for his or her Indian counterparts. The Girls in Blue did not make the semifinals.

India’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur throughout a apply session forward of the first ODI between India and New Zealand ladies on the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, Gujarat on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
| Picture Credit score:
VIJAY SONEJI

Their marketing campaign had begun on the unsuitable foot, shedding to New Zealand. It will show pricey ultimately, because the Kiwis edged previous India within the group and entered the final 4.

Harmanpreet Kaur’s ladies have an opportunity for fast revenge. They tackle New Zealand within the first of a three-match ODI sequence right here on Thursday.

It’s not simply the rating from the T20 World Cup’s that the Indian ladies need to settle; they’d been thrashed 4-1 when the 2 sides met in an ODI sequence. That was in New Zealand in early 2022.

Dipti Sharma throughout a apply session forward of the first ODI between India and New Zealand ladies on the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, Gujarat on Wednesday, October 23, 2024.
| Picture Credit score:
VIJAY SONEJI

Amelia Kerr was the star of that massive sequence win for the White Ferns. She had plundered 353 runs at a median of 117.66, with 100 and three fifties.

And Kerr remains to be in a temper to harm the Indians extra. She was the participant of the ultimate and of the sequence on the T20 World Cup.

The 24-year-old leg-spinning all-rounder additionally has the WPL expertise. As has captain Sophie Devine, whose explosive batting might fear any assault.

The Indian bowlers can even need to deal with Suzie Bates, New Zealand’s different hard-hitting veteran. The likes of Renuka Singh, Radha Yadav and Deepti Sharma have a job on their fingers.

In skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma and Jemimah Rodrigues, there may be class within the Indian batting line-up, although Richa Sharma might be missed. She is taking her college examinations.

Richa’s teammates face a sterner check.

The groups (from): India: Harmanpreet Kaur (Capt.), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, D. Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia, Uma Chetry, Sayali Satgare, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Tejal Hasabnis, Saima Thakor, Priya Mishra, Radha Yadav and Shreyanka Patil.

Girls: Sophie Devine (Capt.), Suzie Bates, Eden Carson, Lauren Down, Izzy Gaze, Maddy Inexperienced, Brooke Halliday, Polly Inglis, Fran Jonas, Jess Kerr, Amelia Kerr, Molly Penfold, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe and Lea Tahuhu.