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Sophie Devine-inspired New Zealand took a major step towards a place in the Women’s T20 World Cup semi-finals with a surprise win over India in Dubai.
The White Ferns came into the tournament on a ten-match losing streak in this format, but were extremely impressive in their first Group A match, completing a comprehensive victory by 58 points.
Captain Devine led the way with an unbeaten 57 from 36 balls, judging his knock superbly to propel his team to 160-4.
And India never got into the chase as seamer Rosemary Mair dismantled her opening lead to finish with figures of 4-19.
“I’m really proud of this group,” Devine said afterward. “Against a world-class team like India, I am overwhelmed. to produce this performance.
“We have been targeting this game for a long time. To go out and put down a marker [is great]but we have a long way to go in the tournament.
An argument interrupted play briefly during New Zealand’s innings when India thought they had caught Amelia Kerr well short of her crease at the striker’s end in the 14th over before the umpires declared a dead ball. Kerr had walked almost to the rope line before the fourth official’s decision, but she fell just two balls after her reprieve.
The defeat comes as a blow to India’s hopes of emerging from a tricky Group A that also contains favorites Australia.
“We didn’t play our best cricket,” admitted captain Harmanpreet Kaur. “For the future, we know that every match is important. We created chances but we couldn’t take advantage of them. They played better cricket than us, there’s no doubt about that.
Earlier, South Africa inflicted a 10-wicket defeat on West Indies in their Group B opener.
Captain Laura Wolvaardt (59 not out) and Tazmin Brits (57 not out) scored an unbeaten half-century in South Africa’s strong chase of 119-0 after left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba notched a career record of 4-29 and restricted the West Indies. at 118-6.
West Indies tried eight bowlers but could not separate the dominant South African pair as they easily cruised to victory with 13 balls to spare while hitting 13 boundaries between them.
Spinner Karishma Ramharack came close to making the breakthrough but couldn’t hold on to an accurate return as Wolvaardt was on 33 as South Africa got off to a good start in Group B, which also includes Scotland , Bangladesh and England.
Additional reporting by agencies
