Sophie Devine stars for NZ against India in T20 World Cup opener

India didn't make a good start as they were expecting in the Women's T20 World Cup 2024, falling short of New Zealand who were winless in their last 10 T20I games. Sophie Devine, who had been struggling with poor form lately, pulled off the captain's display to guide the White Ferns to a confidence-boosting victory in their opening Group A fixture on Friday (October 4) in Dubai. 

Devine won the toss and confidently elected to bat first, stating that the pitch wouldn't change too much. New Zealand took charge of the Indian bowling lineup right from the beginning. The experienced Suzie Bates, along with Georgia Plimmer, showed great intent in the power play. The opening pair unsettled Deepti Sharma and Arundhati Reddy in the first six overs, with the former being dispatched for 16 runs in her first over and the latter conceding 12 runs in the final over of the power play. India's fielding woes returned too, with Richa Ghosh dropping the chance to get rid of Bates.

Asha Sobhana was introduced in the seventh over, and she gave India a sigh of relief. Reddy made amends for her first over and removed Bates in her next one. Asha got the deserved breakthrough in her second over, getting rid of Plimmer who was looking in a good shape. There was a controversy in the 14th over when Melie Kerr was run out by Harmanpreet Kaur and Ghosh, but it was ruled dead ball as Deepti's over was complete. But Melie lost her wicket in the very next over, thanks to Renuka Singh Thakur. 

Skipper Devine attacked the Indian bowlers and eventually crossed the half-century mark. Meanwhile, Brooke Halliday became Renuka's second prey and New Zealand finished the first innings with the score of 160 for 4. 

India lost both Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma in quick succession. Eden Carson did the maximum damage in the first few overs, removing Shafali in a soft caught-and-bowled dismissal and Mandhana for just 12 runs. It was up to the middle order to sort things out for Team India. 

Harmanpreet pushed herself to bat at number three and Jemimah Rodrigues, who had recently been batting at number five, was pushed to number four. They both struggled to put runs on the board, with the captain getting sent back to the dressig room by Rosemary Mair. India were in deep trouble, having lost three wickets in the power play on the score of 43 runs, comapred to New Zealand's score of 55 for 0 in the first six overs. 

Team India were getting beaten by the pace of New Zealand's bowling attack. Lea Tahuhu was introduced in the ninth over, and took no time to remove Rodrigues from the crease for 13 runs. From there on, it was a complete collapse of the Indian batting order. Ghosh was the next to depart, handing Tahuhu her second breakthrough. Mair rejoined the party as she dismissed Reddy who was sent out to bat before Pooja Vastrakar. 

Tahuhu struck back for the White Ferns, trapping Deepti with an off-cutter. Melie dismissed Vastrakar in the very next over, and Mair returned to finish off India's tail comprising Shreyanka Patil and Renuka, delivering her career-best bowling figures of 4/19. India were bowled out for 102 runs, falling short of New Zealand by 58 runs. Devine was awarded the Player of the Match for her batting display.

Brief scores: New Zealand 160/4 in 20 overs (Sophie Devine 57*, Georgia Plimmer 34; Renuka Singh Thakur 2/27) beat India 102/10 in 19 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 15; Rosemary Mair 4/19, Lea Tahuhu 3/15) by 58 runs. POTM: Sophie Devine