Indian Women’s skipper Harmanpreet Kaur scored an astonishing century in the opening match of the ICC Women’s World T20 at Providence to set up a 34-run victory for her side.
Kaur scored 103 runs off just 51 balls to set down a serious marker for the tournament as the team to beat. Her innings included seven fours and eight sixes, as she scored at an astonishing strike rate of 201.96.
Kaur and 18-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues added 134 runs for the fourth wicket off just 76 balls. Rodrigues was stumped after scoring 59 off 45 balls, with seven fours.
India’s monstrous 194-5 off their 20 overs came at a rate of 9.7 runs per over.
Lea Tahuhu fared best with the ball for New Zealand, her four overs costing just 18 runs (econ 6.00) and yielding two wickets.
In response, Suzie Bates (67 off 50 balls) and Anna Petersonn (14 off 12) put on 52 for the first wicket, but the White Ferns lost five wickets for 46 runs and were struggling at 98-5 and, shortly thereafter, 110-6.
Katey Martin (39 off 25, eight fours) and Leigh Kasperek (19 off nine, four fours) added 37 off 24 balls for the seventh wicket but it was not enough to match India’s total.
New Zealand finished on 160-9 off their 20 overs as they suffered a 34-run loss. Destroyers-in-chief with the ball were Dayalan Hemalatha (3-26), Poonam Yadav (3-33) and Radha Yadav (2-31), although it came as no surprise that Harmanpreet Kaur took home the Player of the Match honours.
Photo: Ashley Allen – IDI/Getty Images
