India''s Mithali Raj acknowledges the crowd during her 109-run knock. — Reuters
Derby (UK), July 15
Powered by captain Mithali Raj's
magnificent century, India beat New Zealand by 186 runs in their final league
match of the ICC Women's World Cup here on Saturday and booked a spot in the
semifinals.
Batting first, India recovered from
an early wobble to score a challenging 265 for 7.
India were reduced to 21 for 2 in
the eighth over but a 132-run stand between Mithali (109) and Harmanpreet Kaur
(60) for the third wicket brought them back into the match.
Then, a brilliant quick-fire 70 off
just 45 balls from the bat of Veda Krishnamurthy took India past 260.
Krishnamurthy enlivened the contest
with some big shots, scoring above run-a-ball. Her 70 had seven fours and two
sixes.
But, the highlight of the virtual
knock-out match was Mithali's sixth ton in her 184th match and her 109 came
from 123 balls and had 11 fours in it.
Mithali, who in the earlier match
against Australia became the highest run-getter in ODIs and first batswoman to
reach 6,000 runs, continued with her purple patch in the tournament.
She has already hit three
half-centuries and a 46 not out, besides today's ton, from the seven matches
she has played so far.
Coming in the eighth over at the
team score of 21-2 at the fall of opener Smriti Mandhana (13), Mithali anchored
the Indian innings magnificently.
She first steadied the Indian
innings with Harmanpreet after the initial loss of two wickets and then took
her side to an advantageous position before being dismissed in the final over.
She found an able ally in
Harmanpreet, who made a crucial contribution despite her slow batting.
Harmanpreet consumed 90 balls for her 60 and hit seven fours.
India were going strong at 152 for 2
in the 36th over but New Zealand struck back with two quick wickets --
Harmanpreet and Deepti Sharma (0) -- but that did not bother them.
Krishnamurthy was there to give
impetus to the Indian innings towards the close and she was by far the most
aggressive batswomen as she was always looking for big shots.
She was out in the penultimate
delivery.
In fact, India lost three wickets in
the final over, in the space of four deliveries, for eight runs.
For New
Zealand, off-spinner Leigh Kasperek, who first used the new ball, was the most
successful bowler with three wickets while pacers Hannah Rowe and Lea Tahuhu
took two and one wicket respectively. — PTI
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