Dayalan Hemalatha (3-26) and Poonam Yadav (3-33) starred with the ball as India defeated New Zealand by 34 runs in the first match of the Women’s World T20 at the the Providence Stadium in Guyana on Friday. After a brilliant display with the bat, a combined bowling effort helped India restrict New Zealand 160 for nine in 20 overs. Chasing a mammoth target of 195, New Zealand got off to a solid start but lost the momentum after losing three wickets in quick succession.
The Indian spinners, then bowled superbly in the middle overs, not allowing the batters to score runs freely. The required run rate kept on increasing for New Zealand and the batters eventually succumbed under the pressure. Suzie Bates (67) was the top scorer for the team. Towards the end, Katey Martin (39) played a brilliant knock but failed to take her team across the line. Radha Yadav (2-31) and Arundhati Reddy (1-36) were the other wicket takers for India.
