The prolific Indian opener, Smriti Mandhana made a comeback to the playing XI for the fourth ODI against New Zealand women and she immediately had an impact with a stunner to dismiss Sophie Devine. Mandhana was immensely missed in the tour so far considering her batting prowess and she can take the attack to the opponent with some aggressive batting as well. India decided to rest struggling Harmanpreet Kaur and veteran Jhulan Goswami for the fourth ODI as Mandhana also made a comeback.
Meanwhile, in the New Zealand camp, there were numerous changes in the playing XI as Lea Tahuhu, Maddy Green, Fran Jonas and Brooke Holiday were unavailable. Sophie Devine captained the shots as they have already won the ODI series by winning the first three games after a stupendous chase in the previous game and it turned out to be the second-highest chase in the history of women’s cricket.
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As far as the fourth ODI is concerned, India women won the toss and decided to field first in the rain-affected match at John Davies Oval, Queenstown and it was reduced to 20 overs per side. India is yet to register a victory in the tour and the challenge was not going to be easy by any means in the fourth ODI as well.
Devine and Suzie Bates had put on a half-century partnership for the first wicket and the skipper, in particular, was the aggressor between the two scorings six boundaries in his 24-ball 32.
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It took a breathtaking catch from Smriti Mandhana, who was standing at point, to dismiss Devine of the bowling of Renukha Singh towards the end of the powerplay. Devine’s cut shot went slightly in the air towards the point area and that was enough for Mandhana to dive to her left going with both hands had helped her to keep hold of the catch safely.
Here’s the video of the splendid catch from Smriti Mandhana
https://twitter.com/krithika0808/status/1495958649227067394?s=20&t=ZR5SLJPzv5XvN9aaEZGbqw
Meanwhile, India Women had a huge task on hand to chase down a massive score of 192 in 20 overs as Amelia Kerr continued her batting exploits with a 33-ball 68. The visitors did not have the best of starts as the top four batters were dismissed within the fifth over with just 19 runs on board. Eventually, they got bundled out for 128.
