Suzie Bates Stars In New Zealand's 62 Run Win vs India In 1st ODI

New Zealand women’s team defeated India by 62 runs to open the ODI series

The first ODI of the anticipated clash for the Women in Blue ended with the New Zealand women’s team beating India by 62 runs to open the ODI series. New Zealand set a target of 275 runs, but India’s batting didn’t end up delivering the runs as they fell short of the target en-route to the loss.

India will have a chance to bounce-back in the second ODI of the series on 15th February. The match will be streamed live and exclusively on Amazon Prime Video at 3:30 AM.

New Zealand opened the batting on the day with Suzie Bates and Maddy Green. Bates would embark on a mammoth 106-run innings, made sweeter by the fact that it was her first century since she spent a year recovering from her shoulder injury. Bates had this to say about her achievement.

“It means a lot. In the moment of the game you are just doing what needs to be done to have your team win, but it’s been a while since I have scored a century for New Zealand. Having a shoulder injury and coming back in the England series and not playing how I would have liked to. There were self-doubts creeping in, but it is really nice to start this series of so well.”

Bates had a steady cast of partners on the pitch, with Amy Satterthwaite making the biggest impact with a 63-run performance that helped New Zealand keep the scoring up after Bates was dismissed. India had four bowlers pick up two wickets apiece as New Zealand was bowled out for 275 after 48.1 overs.

India got off to a shaky start, but a near 100-run partnership between captain Mithali Raj and Yastika Bhatia helped the team find their footing again. However, the scoring output didn’t pick up the pace it needed to chase the 275-run total down. Still adapting to the NZ pitch conditions, India slumped to defeat after being bowled out at a total of 213 runs. Jess Kerr’s 4-wicket haul led the White Ferns bowling efforts.

Indian bowler Rajeshwari Gaikwad spoke about the challenges the NZ climate is providing for the team as they adjust to the wind impacting the deliveries.

"Bowling is very challenging here due to the wind. Pacers and spinners both face this challenge with the wind. But we have a lot of fun bowling on a wicket like this. It will take us some time to adjust to this wicket and we are playing together after a long time. We aren't making excuses as we try to play to our best on the field."

All-rounder Deepti Sharma also brought up them struggling with them being in and out of quarantine, but the team will accept no excuses and work towards getting better for the second ODI.