New Zealand opened their women’s T20 World Cup with a resounding 58-run win over pre-tournament favourites India and ended their ten-match losing streak in T20Is in the process.

Sophie Devine’s unbeaten 57 off 36 after a flying start from openers Georgia Plimmer and Suzie Bates helped New Zealand post 160 for 4, which proved way too much for India.

India’s batters couldn’t handle the New Zealand pace attack, as Rosemary  Mair  starred with four wickets and Lea Tahuhu picked up three. But it was all set up by legspinner Eden Carson, who struck a double-blow early, removing openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. With Harmanpreet Kaur – at No. 3 for the first time in 18 months – falling for a 14-ball 15 inside the powerplay, the chase got tricky for India, who were a batter short, and lost six wickets for 60 runs to be bowled out for 102 in 19 overs.

After conceding 55 runs in the powerplay, India fought their way back into the game in the middle overs but they couldn’t keep Devine quiet. Between the last World Cup and this one, she had batted mostly at No. 4 barring two games – this was after playing at the top of the order from 2017 to early 2023 – to bring more power to the middle order. But Devine had not found a lot of success this year, averaging 21.25 in nine innings with just two half-centuries. The New Zealand captain had also come into the tournament with scores of 5, 12, 4, 5. But it didn’t matter on Friday as Devine once again proved her credentials as a big-match player to lift New Zealand.

After seven boundary-less overs, she punished S Asha for back-to-back fours, dancing down the track to smash one through mid-off and pulling one away to deep square-leg off the back foot. She kept the scorecard ticking and didn’t spare the pace of Renuka Singh either, hitting consecutive fours in the 15th over. She found the extra-cover boundary to bring up her 21st T20I fifty. Along the way, Devine shared a 46-run stand off 26 balls with Brooke Halliday for the fourth wicket and gave New Zealand a strong finish.

New Zealand showed their intent from the word go with Suzie Bates pulling the first ball of the innings to deep square-leg for four, and she stepped down the track as early as third ball for a drive past mid-off for her second four, all off Pooja Vastrakar. Plimmer – who is fresh off her first maiden T20I fifty, against Australia – also unsettled Deepti Sharma in the third over. This included a six when she came down the track and lofted one over long-on. They also benefited from India’s sloppy fielding – Richa Ghosh dropped Bates, who got a top edge to the keeper, in the final over of the powerplay. The duo brought up the team 50 in 34 balls, hitting five fours and a six, to end the powerplay strongly at 55 without losing a wicket and set the platform for a competitive total.

Lea Tahuhu celebrates with her team-mates (Cricinfo)

Both Arundhati Reddy and Asha have been in and out of India’s XI this year but when they got an opportunity on a big stage on Friday, they delivered. Bowling the final over of the powerplay, Reddy had leaked 12 runs. Asha was then introduced into the attack and she started with a six-run boundary-less over. Coming back for her second, Reddy removed Bates with a slower one for 27 and provided India the breakthrough they craved. In the following over, Asha tossed one up and forced the well-set Plimmer to step out and heave one into the hands of Smriti Mandhana at long-on, bringing out footballer Leandro Trossard’s goggles celebration to mark the moment. Bowling in tandem after the powerplay, the pair conceded just 20 runs off 30 balls from the seventh to the 11th to slow down New Zealand.

The game wasn’t without its share of drama.

India thought they had run out Amelia Kerr  in the 14th over and the batter also thought she was gone, and headed for the dugout before being stopped by the fourth umpire. The umpires had decided the ball was dead when the dismissal was effected.

Kerr and Devine were trying to sneak a second off the last ball of the over when the ball was in Harmanpreet’s hands, and it seemed the ball was dead. They ran, Harmanpreet threw, Ghosh broke the stumps, and Kerr was well short of getting back to the striker’s end.

Meanwhile, after the first run, Deepti, the bowler, had asked the umpire to hand her cap back and had also collected it.

Play was paused for a few minutes with India coach Amol Muzumdar having a conversation with the fourth umpire. But it was decided the ball was dead, and the run-out dismissal would not be counted as the ball was not “in play”.

India had three fast bowlers in the XI for the first time in a T20I this year, with Vastrakar, Renuka and Reddy all included. Left-arm spinner Radha Yadav, India’s second best bowler this year  in terms of wickets taken, was left out to accommodate an extra seamer. The six-bowler strategy meant Harmanpreet was promoted to No. 3 with Jemimah Rodrigues and Ghosh at Nos. 4 and 5, respectively. But playing with one batter fewer did not help India on a day their batting unit underperformed.

Chasing a competitive 161, India lost their top three inside the powerplay and the middle order faltered against the hard lengths of Tahuhu before Mair’s swing troubled the lower order. Ghosh consumed 19 balls to make 12 and Deepti made 13 off 18. Harmanpreet’s 15 remained the top score.

Brief scores :

New Zealand Women 160 for 4 in 20 overs (Suzie Bates 27, Sophie Devine 57*, Georgia Plimmer 34, Renuka  Singh 2-27, Arundati Reddy1-28, Asha Sobhana 1-22) beat India Women 102 in 19 overs  (Harmanpreet Kaur 15; Rosemary Mair 4-19, Lea Tahuhu 3-15, Eden Carson 2-34, Amelia Kerr1-19) by 58 runs

(Cricinfo)