Derby, July 15 (CRICKETNMORE) Skipper Mithali Raj struck a sparkling century to help the Indian women's cricket team post a healthy 265\/7 against New Zealand in the do-or-die final group tie of the ongoing Women's World Cup here on Saturday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Put into bat, Mithali (109 off 123 balls, 11*4) helped resurrect India's innings with two century stands -- first a 132-run third wicket partnership with Harmanpreet Kaur (60 off 90, 7*4) and then joined forces with Veda Krishnamurthy (70 off 45, 7*4, 2*6) to add 108 runs -- at the County Ground here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India were off to a disastrous start, losing the early wickets of Smriti Mandana (13) and Punam Raut (4) to find themselves tottering at a precarious 21\/2 by the eighth over.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Mithali, who on Saturday became the first Indian batswoman to notch 1000 World Cup runs, batted cautiously to steady the ship along with all-rounder Harmanpreet as the New Zealand bowlers kept testing the Indians with some tight line and length.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The 34-year-old Mithali, already the highest run-getter in the 50-over format, got to her sixth One-Day International (ODI) ton off 116 balls when she drove Leigh Kasperek between long-on and deep midwicket.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
India capitalised the poor start in the middle overs, milking 16-year-old leg-spinner Amelia Kerr for 64 runs besides skipper Suzie Bates leaking 59 from her 8 overs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Veda's innings towards the end was what India missed in the previous match against the Australians on Wednesday, as the right-hander gave the innings the much-needed acceleration, which included two towering sixes. <\/p>\r\n\r\n
The final over, however, witnessed a quick fall of wickets with Mithali, Veda and Shikha Pandey (0) going one after the other as India finished at 265\/7.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
For the White Ferns, Kasperek was the pick of the bowlers grabbing 3\/45 while Hannah Rowe took 2\/30 and Lea Tahuhu contributed with the wicket of opener Punam.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Brief Scores: India women: 265\/7 (Mithali Raj 109, Veda Krishnamurthy 70, Harmanpreet Kaur 60, Leigh Kasperek 3\/45, Hannah Rowe 2\/30) vs New Zealand women<\/p>\r\n", "image": "https:\/\/img.cricketnmore.com\/uploads\/2017\/07\/mithali4.jpg", "alt_img": "2017 ICC Women World Cup", "alt_title": "India vs New Zealand", "image1": "", "video": "", "seo_title": "Mithali's classy ton drives Indian eves to 265\/7 vs New Zealand", "seo_desc": "Mithali's classy ton drives Indian eves to 265\/7 vs New ZealandDerby, July 15 (CRICKETNMORE) Skipper Mithali Raj struck a sparkling century to help the Indian w", "seo_keywords": "India vs New Zealand, 2017 ICC Women World Cup", "tag": "", "tagging": "", "status": "1", "img_rpt": "0", "google": "0", "standout": "0", "edapps": "0", "pulse": "0", "no_index": "0", "feed": "0", "fixture": "0", "slug": "mithali-s-classy-ton-drives-indian-eves-to-265-7-vs-new-zealand", "user_id": "0", "read_count": "0", "ians_date": "0000-00-00", "ians_time": "00:00:00", "server_time": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "trash": "0", "view_count": "4682", "page_break": "0", "instant_articles": "0", "auto_link": "0", "created": "2017-07-15 19:38:00", "updated": "2017-07-15 19:38:00", "img_from": "", "img_source": "", "schedule_publish": "0000-00-00 00:00:00", "news_keywords": null, "livescore_text": null, "livescore_link": null, "btn_text": null, "resend_feed": "0", "google_feed": "0", "read_more": "0", "posted_by": "1", "jio_date": "2017-07-15 19:38:00", "scheduled": "0", "news_now": "1", "breaking_news": "0", "google_date": "2017-07-15 19:38:00", "featured": "0", "pred_match_id": null, "article_content_type": null, "link": "https:\/\/www.cricketnmore.com\/cricket-news\/mithali-s-classy-ton-drives-indian-eves-to-265-7-vs-new-zealand-28971" }