India suffers 3-wicket defeat to New Zealand

India felt the absence of veteran pace bowler Jhulan Goswami as the tourist failed to defend 270 and went down to New Zealand by three wickets in the second Women’s ODI here on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old Jhulan was rested for the match by India, which trails 2-0 in the five-game series after back-to-back defeats. Opting to bat after winning the toss, the visiting team set the host a stiff target of 271, thanks to the trio of skipper Mithali Raj (66 not out off 81 balls, 3 fours), Richa Ghosh (65 off 64 balls, 6 fours, 1 six) and Sabbhineni Meghana (49 off 50 balls, 7 fours) that rose to the occasion.

Mithali and Richa shared an invaluable 108 runs for the fifth wicket while Meghana put together 61 with her opening partner Shafali Verma (24) for the first.

In at No.3 Yastika Bhatia contributed 31 runs off 38 deliveries (4 fours). In reply to India’s total, the home side got past the finish line with an over to spare, despite losing three wickets in the first nine overs. No.3 Amelia Kerr (119 not out off 135 balls, 7 fours) made the difference in the second essay, with Maddy Green (52 off 61 balls, 5 fours) playing the supporting role to perfection.

Amelia and Maddy stitched 128 runs for the fourth wicket as India could not strike in the middle overs. Off-spinner Deepti Sharma (4/52) impressed for the visitor with a four-wicket haul, but her effort eventually went in vain.

India opener Smriti Mandhana on Tuesday completed her extended quarantine and will be available for the remainder of the ODI series. Mandhana was in extended managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) in Christchurch along with pacers Meghna Singh and Renuka Singh. Meghna, too, came out of MIQ on Tuesday while Renuka finished her isolation earlier.