5th ODI: Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur help India women avoid clean sweep against New Zealand
India Today
India Women tour of New Zealand: Riding on fifties from Smriti Mandhana, Harmanpreet Kaur and Mithali Raj, India women gunned down a 252-run target in the 5th ODI with ease and avoided a clean sweep of the ODI series.
India women avoided a clean sweep of the ODI series in New Zealand as they came up with an all-round effort to gun down a target of 252 with 6 wickets and 4 overs in hand. The big guns, Smriti Mandhana, Mithali Raj and Harmanrpeet Kaur stepped up as India ended the ODI series with a 1-4 scoreline. It was also the first win for India on their tour of New Zealand after 5 successive defeats, including the one in the lone T20I.
India needed to arrest the slide with less than 2 weeks left for their Women's World Cup 2022 campaign and the win on Thursday will certainly give Mithali Raj's side a boost in confidence.
While opener Smriti Mandhana, who returned to the XI for the first time in New Zealand only in the last match after an extended stay in isolation, found her rhythm as she set the tone for the solid chase
Despite losing Shafali Verma early, Smriti carried on and hit a solid 71 from 84 deliveries. She stiched a 60-run stand with Deepti Sharma following which Smriti and Harmanpreet Kaur put the pressure on New Zealand bowlers with free-flowing knocks.
a mature innings by Smriti Mandhana as she brings up her 20th ODI half-century! #NZvIND #LiveCricketOnPrime pic.twitter.com/lCShrlaWn5
Harmanpreet, who was in desperate need of some runs, found form at a crucial juncture for India as they need the star batter to step up and perform at the Women's World Cup. In fact, Harmanpreet's 66-ball 63 proved to be the difference between India easing through to the target and New Zealand staging a comeback.
It was heartwarming to see Smriti embrace Harmanpreet with a hug right after her T20I captain hit a six to assert her dominance in the middle.
