India women beat New Zealand to enter World T20 semi-finals
The Indian women's cricket team defeated New Zealand in their third successive win of the tournament and cemented their spot in the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup.
India continued their winning run, beating New Zealand by four runs in a last-ball thriller of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup to enter the semi-finals of the tournament.
The Indian team also registered their third straight win of the tournament to top the group and seal their last four spot.
Indian bowlers were pivotal in ensuring the win for the team. (Image courtesy: AP Photo)
Put in to bat, India posted a below-par 133 for eight against New Zealand in the crucial group A match.
Defending a low total, the Indian bowlers were the stars of the day as they restricted the White Ferns to 129 for six in 20 overs. In a nail-biter that went down to the final ball of the match with 5 runs needed off the last delivery, Amelia Kerr was unable to take her team over the line. However, it was her innings of 34 runs of 19 deliveries that breathed life into New Zealand's game at the end.
Earlier in the game, India’s rising superstar Shafali Verma presented the fireworks with her score of 46 off 34 runs. She has broken the record of the highest strike at the women’s T20 World Cup. She has scored 114 runs at a strike rate of 172.72 in three matches.
After losing Smriti Mandhana for just 11 runs, Shafali and Taniya Bhatia steadied the ship adding 51 runs for the second wicket. However after the two were dismissed, the others were dismissed like skittles. The team lost 6 wickets for 43 runs squandered a good start. It was another middle order collapse for the team. Jemimah Rodrigues was out for 10, Harmanpreet was dismissed for 1 adding to her recent poor form.
"We did the same mistakes, we got a good start in the first 10 overs and we didn't carry the momentum. We did bowl well in patches and some times, we were not up to the mark and have to focus on those areas," Harmanpreet said after the match.
Radha Yadav batting at No 9 took the team to a respectable total with her innings of 14 runs in 9 balls that included a six in the last over.
Brief score:
India women: 133 for 8 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 46; Amelia Kerr 2/21).
New Zealand women: 129 for six in 20 overs (Amelia Kerr 34 not out; Shikha Pandey 1/21).
(Edited by Rekha Balakrishnan)
MOST VIEWED STORIES
![[100 Emerging Women Leaders] How Gayatri Agrawal is inspiring women to embrace tech](https://images.yourstory.com/cs/2/f9bdfa20c75811ed9569e5d19beae38b/100EWLGayatri-AgrawalFeatureImage-1732290015187.jpg?mode=crop&crop=faces&ar=1%3A1&format=auto&w=1920&q=75)
