Muristek
Queenstown, February 15
India felt the absence of experienced pacer Jhulan Goswami as they failed to defend an imposing 270 to go down by three wickets in the second women's ODI against New Zealand here today.
The loss means that the visitors now trail Kiwis 0-2 in the five-match series.
Deepti Sharma took 4/52 while her spin colleagues Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Harmanpreet Kaur took a wicket apiece. But India failed in the pace department with Pooja Vastrakar and debutant Simran Bahadur leaking runs without taking any wickets.
Goswami, rested to try out new talent, could have made the difference after the Indian batters set a stiff target of 271 despite the continued absence Smriti Mandhana.
But Amelia Kerr made the difference with her unbeaten 119 off 135 balls as New Zealand surpassed the target with one over to spare by reaching 273/7. The Indian bowlers lost the plot in the middle overs when they allowed Kerr and Maddy Green (52) to stitch a 128-run stand from 24.4 overs for the fourth wicket. — PTI
Mandhana out of MIQ
Christchurch: Star batter Smriti Mandhana today completed her extended stay in quarantine here and left for Queenstown to join the team for the remainder of the five-match ODI series against New Zealand. Mandhana had missed the one-off T20I and two ODIs against New Zealand as she was in extended Managed Isolation and Quarantine (MIQ) along with two other players — pacers Meghna Singh and Renuka Singh.