Ahmedabad. New Zealand’s Kerr sisters Amelia and Jess together took seven wickets as India were bundled out for 227 runs in the first women’s ODI cricket match here on Thursday. Leg spinner Amelia took four wickets for 42 runs while fast bowler Jess took three wickets for 49 runs as New Zealand gave shocks to India at regular intervals. Off-spinner Eden Carson also took two wickets for 42 runs.
Indian batsmen failed to convert a good start into a big innings. Deepti Sharma (41), debutant Tejal Hasbanis (42), Shefali Verma (33), Yastika Bhatia (37) and Jemimah Rodrigues (35) lost wickets after a good start. Tejal will be very disappointed because she was batting very well before becoming Amelia’s victim. The right-handed batsman decided to go ahead and play a big shot on Amelia’s ball but missed and was stumped by wicketkeeper Isabella Gage.
The only strong partnership from India was between Jemimah and Tejal who added 61 runs for the fifth wicket. India had a bad start. Captain Smriti Mandhana returned to the pavilion in the third over itself. She gave an easy catch to Georgia Plimmer on Jess’s ball. India lost wickets at regular intervals and never looked in a position to score big.