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Harmanpreet Kaur-led India Women began their 2024 Women's T20 World Cup campaign on a poor note. They lost to New Zealand Women by 58 runs in Dubai on Friday, October 4. Chasing 161, the Women in Blue were bundled out for 102 in 19 overs.
The batting unit flopped badly as skipper Harmanpreet was the top run-getter with 15 off 14 deliveries. Rosemary Mair starred with the ball for New Zealand, returning with exceptional figures of 4/19, while Lea Tahuhu bagged three wickets. Eden Carson also scalped two wickets.
Batting first, the White Ferns put up 160/4 in 20 overs. Captain Sophie Devine led from the front, scoring an unbeaten 57 off 36 balls, including seven boundaries. Openers Georgia Plimmer and Suzie Bates also chipped in with 34 (23) and 27 (24), respectively. Renuka Singh starred with the ball for India, picking up two wickets. Arundhati Reddy and Asha Sobhana bagged one wicket each.
Fans on X trolled India for losing their opening game against New Zealand, who ended their 10-match losing streak.
One user wrote:
"New Zealand women's did what their men's team does with Indian Men's Team. They thrashed us badly by 58 Runs"
Another user wrote:
"Newzealand defeated India by 58 runs in the their first world cup match. Very disappointing performance by Indian team. It's true that toss is crucial in UAE but Indian team including Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana played an average cricket, or below average cricket."
A third user added:
"A clueless batting performance... But hopefully that 1 bad match is out of the way now! Onwards and Upwards, Girls!!"
Here are a few more reactions:
"We didn't play our best cricket today" - Harmanpreet Kaur reacts to India's loss against New Zealand at Women's T20 World Cup
Harmanpreet Kaur felt that her side leaked 10-15 more runs, which cost them the match against New Zealand. She said in her post-match comments (via Cricbuzz):
"We didn't play our best cricket today. Going forward we have to think what areas we have to improve. Every game now is important and we have to play our best cricket. We created chances, it's not like that we didn't create. They played better cricket than us, no doubt about that. This is such a high stage where you can't make these mistakes."
"We have chased 160-170 many times. But on that pitch .. it was 10-15 runs too many. At one stage, the way they started, I was thinking it would be 180. This wasn't the start we were expecting (in this tournament)," she added.
India will next play against Pakistan in a high-octane clash at the same venue on Sunday, October 6.
