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A Sophie Devine-inspired New Zealand took a major step towards a semi-final place at the Women’s T20 World Cup with an upset victory over India in Dubai.
The White Ferns arrived at the tournament on a ten-match losing streak in the format but were hugely impressive in their Group A opener, completing a comprehensive victory by 58 runs.
Captain Devine led the way with an unbeaten 57 off 36 balls, judging her knock superbly to power her side up to 160-4.
And India never got going in the run chase, with seamer Rosemary Mair dismantling their top order to finish with figures of 4-19.
“I’m really proud of this group,” Devine said afterwards. “Coming out against a world-class side like India, I’m overwhelmed. to produce that performance.
“We’ve been targeting this game for a long time. To come out and lay a marker [is great], but we’ve got a long way to go in the tournament.”
A run-out dispute stopped play briefly during New Zealand’s innings when India thought it caught Amelia Kerr well short of her crease at the striker’s end in the 14th over before the umpires ruled a dead ball. Kerr had walked to almost the rope boundary before the ruling by the fourth umpire, though fell just two balls after her reprieve.
Defeat serves as a significant blow to India’s hopes of progressing from a tricky Group A that also contains favourites Australia.
“We didn’t play our best cricket,” captain Harmanpreet Kaur admitted. “Going forward we know every game is important. We created chances but we were not able to avail those chances. They played better cricket than us, no doubt about that.
Earlier, South Africa inflicted a 10-wicket defeat on the West Indies in their opening match in Group B.
Captain Laura Wolvaardt (59 not out) and Tazmin Brits (57 not out) struck unbeaten half centuries in South Africa’s strong chase of 119-0 after left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba had grabbed a career-best 4-29 and restricted the West Indies to 118-6.
West Indies tried eight bowlers but couldn’t separate the dominant South African pair as they eased to victory with 13 balls to spare while striking 13 boundaries in between them.
Spinner Karishma Ramharack came close to getting the breakthrough but couldn’t hold on to a sharp return catch when Wolvaardt was on 33 as South Africa made a strong start in Group B, which also includes Scotland, Bangladesh and England.
Additional reporting by agencies
