Smriti Mandhana, Rodrigues guide India women to easy win over NZ

The inform Smriti Mandhana and teen sensation Jemimah Rodrigues hammered New Zealands clueless bowling attack to steer India to an emphatic ninewicket triumph in the opening ODI of a threematch series here ThursdayThe 22yearold Mandhana 105 and the 18yearold Rodrigues 81 not out put together a batting masterclass after the bowlers did the job for India by bundling out New Zealand for a belowpar 192Competing in their first series after the furore that followed the teams T20 World Cup exit in the semifinals last year the Indians produced a thoroughly clinical performance to eke out the comfortable victory in 33 oversWhile Mandhana fresh from winning the ICC womens cricketer of the year award slammed her fourth ODI hundred Rodrigues notched up her maiden international halfcenturyI think its great to start the series with a win and wonderful to see openers get an over 100run partnership I think a lot of girls do look up to Mandhana She had a great 2018 and she is continuing and it gives a lot of confidence to the dressing room India captain Mithali Raj said in the postmatch presentationBut easy catches should have been taken though We are definitely not overconfident she added referring to the shortcomings she noticedMandhana and Rodrigues stitched together the highest ever opening wicket stand against New Zealand a 190run partnership that stood for 322 overs Rodrigues was making just her fifth appearance in national coloursMandhanas 104ball knock included nine fours and three sixes while Rodrigues managed nine hits to the fenceThe wicket was great to bat on We played according to the merit of the balls and it was a great inning she saidAn overcast sky meant that the two teams did not face the sunstrike that halted play for nearly half an hour in the mens game on WednesdayEarlier put in to bat New Zealand let slip a good start and crumbled in the face of Indias relentless spin combination of Poonam Yadav and Ekta BishtBoth Bisht and Yadav snared three wickets each to put the visiting side on topYadav in fact ripped through the White Ferns middle order claiming the scalps of skipper Amy Satterthwaite 31 Lauren Down 0 and Amelia Kerr 28 in her quota of 10 oversThis was after Susie Bates 38 and Sophie Devine 28 gave New Zealand a solid startBut Devines run out by Deepti Sharma triggered a collapse and New Zealand folded in 484 overs Bates 38 off 54 balls including a couple of fours was the best that any home batsman could manageThe next match of the series will be played in Mount Maunganui on January 29Catch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Except for the change in headline the story has been provided ASIS AS AVAILABLE without any verification or editing from our side Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever