NZW vs INDW | India on the verge of getting whitewashed after losing fourth ODI

India women lost their fourth ODI game in a row to New Zealand on Tuesday, 22 February in Queenstown. An annihilation of sorts, the match was taken away from the visitors in the very first overs of the day. A rain interrupted game that was brought down to 20 overs saw the White Ferns being put to bat in tough conditions, but rather than getting bogged down by it, they came out all guns blazing.

The two openers, Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates put on a 50-run stand in the powerplay and that eventually became the theme of the day. It took an exceptional catch from Smriti Mandhana to break the partnership, but number 3 Amelia Kerr made sure that the momentum did not fizzle out.

Kerr’s shot-filled 68 off 33 meant that New Zealand were set up with an exceptional total to defend against India, who have been very good with the bat in the series.

192 was always going to be tough for the Indians to chase down in 20 overs, but India possibly went on to have the worst start of their series, losing four wickets in the powerplay overs. Barring Richa Ghosh at #6, not a single person turned up on the day and assisted Ghosh’s 52 off 29. Mithali Raj, managed to score 30, but off 28 balls.

Amelia Kerr, after her stunning half century in the first innings, returned to clean up the tail of the batting order and ended up getting three wickets to her name.

This wrapped India up even before the completion of 20 overs, and they only scored 128-run before losing all their wickets.

With the series lost already, India will only be playing for pride in the final game of the series. While India believed that this series would be a good preparation for World Cup, they now have lost four in a row, beaten comprehensively in all three departments.

Mithali Raj, speaking after the game stated that she knows that the bowling has been fairly off ahead of the WC but she believes that everybody will come good in the main tournament.

India play their final game on 24 February.