Ahmedabad: A disciplined performance by the bowlers led by left-arm spinner Radha Yadav helped India hand New Zealand a 59-run defeat in the first match and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match women's ODI series at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Thursday.
Asked to bat first by the visitors, the Indian women's team rode on decent batting efforts by Tejal Hasabnis (42), Deepti Sharma (41) and Yastika Bhatia (37) before being restricted to 227 all out in 44.3 overs. Jemimah Rodrigues (46) and Shafali Verma (33) were other major contributors for India as the Kerr sisters, Amelia (4-41) and Jess (3-49), did the maximum damage for New Zealand.
The Indian bowling attack made early inroads and kept pegging the visitors back, bundling them out for 168 in 40.4 overs to win the match by 59 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series against the recently-crowned ICC T20 World Cup winners. Radha Yadav (3-35) and Saima Thakur (2-26) were the main wicket-takers for India.
Brief score: India 227 in 44.3 overs (Tejal Hasabnis 42, Deepti Sharma 41; Amelia Kerr 4-42, Jess Kerr 3-49) beat New Zealand 168 all out in 40.4 overs (Brooke Halliday 39, Maddy Green 31, Amelia Kerr 25 not out; Radha Yadav 3-35; Saima Thakur 2-26) by 59 runs. IANS
Also Watch: