World Cup: Amelia Kerr Stars In New Zealand's 62-Run Win Over India

Cricket Image for World Cup: Amelia Kerr Stars In New Zealand's 62-Run Win Over India (Image Source: Twitter)

Amelia Ker's all-round performance helped New Zealand beat India by 62 runs in the 8th match of the ICC Women's World Cup at Seddon Park, Hamilton. 

Chasing a target of 261, India begin poorly as they not only lost wickets inside the powerplay but were unable to score runs freely. India only scored 26 runs in the first ten overs, lost Smriti Mandhana and Deepti Sharma. 

Yastika Bhatia and Mithali Raj slowly continued the Indian inning. Yastika scored 28 off 59 balls before Lea Tahuhu got her out. Harmanpreet Kaur joined the crease with Mithali and the veteren duo added 47 runs in 63 balls for the fourth wicket. 

Mithali got out stumped off Amelia Kerr after scoring 31 in 56 balls and on the very next delivery, Richa Ghosh out. 

Sneh Rana tried to help Harman in the chase and scored 18 off 28. India kept losing wickets and the asking rate kept rising. Harman decided to take on the New Zealand bowlers and scored a fighting 71 off 63 before Kerr got her caught at the boundary. 

Jhulan Goswami and the lower order couldn't make much of difference as India got bowled out for 198 in the 47th over. 

Earlier, Pooja Vastrakar picked four wickets to help India restrict New Zealand to 260/9 in the first innings. Mithali Raj opted to bowl first but things didn't go India's way after that as New Zealand were cruising on 222/4 in 42 overs, looking set to finish on a high. 

Amelia Kerr smacked 50 in 64 balls while Amy Satterthwaite made 75 in 84 balls. 

India's fightback in death overs began when Pooja forced Amy to flick in the air and found a mid-wicket fielder. Rajeshwari then beat Hayley Jansen on the sweep and hit the stumps. Pooja delivered back-to-back yorkers to take out Lea Tahuhu and Jess Kerr. 

In the final over of the innings, Jhulan got a scalp against her name as her yorker ended Katey's stay at 41 and also became the joint leading wicket-taker in the World Cup. 

Brief Scorecard: 

New Zealand - 260/9 

India - 198/10 in 46.4 overs