In the Women’s T2O World Cup, Indian women team have made it to the semi-finals of the World Cup, beating New Zealand by just 3 runs on Thursday. After defeating strong Australia and Bangladeshi team in both the initial matches, India now got the better of New Zealand. India will play Sri Lanka in their last group stage match against Sri Lanka and a win will assure that they finish top of their group. The Indian team currently stands at numero uno position in Group-A by winning all three matches with 6 points.
India scored 133 runs after losing the toss
In the match played in Melbourne, India lost the toss and scored 133 runs for 8 wickets in 20 overs. Indian opener Shefali Verma scored 46 runs and Smriti Mandhana scored 11 runs. However, the form of skipper Harmanpreet Kaur is a matter of concern for India. She only managed to score 1 run in the match. Amelia Kerr and Rosemary Mair took 2–2 wickets each for New Zealand. Captain Sophie Devine, Lee Tahuhu and Leigh Kasperek had 1–1 success each.
Kiwi women lost on the last ball
In response to 133 runs, the New Zealand team could score 130 runs for 6 wickets in 20 overs. In the last over, New Zealand needed 16 runs to win and 5 runs off the last ball, but Shikha Pandey just held her nerves to make India victorious. For Kiwis, Amelia Kerr was the highest run scorer with 34 runs while Katey Martin scored 25 runs and Maddy Green scored 24 runs. India’s Deepti Sharma, Shikha Pandey, Rajeshwari Gaekwad, Poonam Yadav and Radha Yadav got 1-1 wickets each.
Player of the match Shafali Verma
Shafali Verma, who played a tremendous innings of 46 off 34 balls, adorned with four fours and three sixes, was adjudged Player of the Match. This was the second match in a row when the 16-year-old opener received the player of the match award as she also bagged the honour in the game against Bangladesh.
