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Smriti Mandhana Scores Century as India Clinches ODI Series
Smriti Mandhana Scores Century as India Clinches ODI Series
Harmanpreet Kaur added an unbeaten half-century as India chased down New Zealand's 232 with 34 balls to spare.
Smriti has finally made her third century of 2024 in the ODI as India changed the usual strategy of batting first and winning in their final match against New Zealand at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Mandhana scored 100 runs off 122 balls and built important partnerships with Yastika Bhatia, who made 35 runs, and Harmanpreet Kaur, who scored 59 not out. The Indian team easily chased down the target of 232 runs, winning by six wickets with 34 balls left. This victory gave them a 2-1 series win.
India had little trouble in chasing the target, even after losing Shafali Verma early in the game to a ball from Hannah Rowe. Since the target wasn't too challenging, Mandhana could afford to start slowly—she was at 9 runs after 26 balls at one point. However, she soon got used to the pitch and started to play well, hitting a pull shot off Sophie Devine and a high drive off Eden Carson to get her innings on track.
Mandhana and Bhatia didn’t pick up the pace in their partnership of 76 runs, with Bhatia scoring 35 runs and hitting four boundaries before getting caught off Devine's bowling.
Any chance of New Zealand coming back was quickly dashed as Harmanpreet focused on taking singles and doubles while Mandhana increased her speed. After reaching her fifty in 73 balls, Mandhana found a boundary in each of the next two overs, totaling 10 boundaries for her innings, which brought the target down to single digits. The Indian captain received some treatment for her left leg, but it wasn't serious enough to affect her batting or the team's progress. She hit two fours in consecutive overs, pushing India past 150 runs.
Now in control, the two experienced batters shifted their game, and the 37th over bowled by visiting captain Devine showed they didn’t want to stretch the chase too long. Harmanpreet hit a four past mid-wicket, and Mandhana followed by hitting two fours, one with a lofted shot and one with a pull. Harmanpreet reached her fifty off 54 balls, and shortly after, Mandhana scored her eighth ODI century, breaking Mithali Raj's Indian record of seven, by nudging Carson for a single to long off.
Mandhana was out at the end of a 117-run partnership when India needed just 24 more runs to win, but Jemimah Rodrigues quickly scored 22 runs off 18 balls, hitting four fours, to help seal the victory. India won in the 45th over.
While the chase was well-organized, India also made significant improvements in the field. Bowling first on a hot day, India fielded better after dropping six catches in the previous ODI. They executed three run-outs, including one that got rid of the strong opening pair of Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer, with Rodrigues taking the catch to dismiss Bates.
Despite Plimmer trying to repeat her fast start from the last match, New Zealand only scored 35 for 2 in the PowerPlay. Devine hit two strong boundaries in her first seven balls but was out due to a clever delivery from Priya Mishra. In her second ODI, Mishra also got rid of Plimmer for 39 after catching an edge that Deepti Sharma held, who had dropped three catches in the last match.
With New Zealand five wickets down for 88, another mix-up led to Maddy Green's run-out, with Rodrigues alert again. Brooke Halliday stepped up to lead the fightback, finding support from Isabella Gaze, who scored 25 off 49 in a 64-run partnership. Halliday hit a six off Mishra in the 38th over and reached her sixth half-century in the 40th, then started to score quickly.
She hit two more sixes before getting out in the 46th over after making a career-best 86 off 96 balls. Without Shreyanka Patil, who was injured, Deepti continued her good form and took three wickets, but India still conceded 70 runs in the last eight overs. However, it didn't impact the result since New Zealand's total wasn't enough.
Brief scores:
New Zealand 232 in 49.5 overs (Brooke Halliday 86, Georgia Plimmer 39; Deepti Sharma 3-39, Priya Mishra 2-41) lost to India 236/4 in 44.2 overs (Smriti Mandhana 100, Harmanpreet Kaur 59*; Hannah Rowe 2-47) by six wickets.
New Zealand 232 in 49.5 overs (Brooke Halliday 86, Georgia Plimmer 39; Deepti Sharma 3-39, Priya Mishra 2-41) lost to India 236/4 in 44.2 overs (Smriti Mandhana 100, Harmanpreet Kaur 59*; Hannah Rowe 2-47) by six wickets.
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