Familiar foes meet again as India and New Zealand target second tournament wins
- Match 8: New Zealand Women v India Women
- Seddon Park, Hamilton
- Thursday 10 March, 14:00 local time
Snehal Pradhan and Anjum Chopra look ahead to the big #NZvIND match.
India and tournament hosts New Zealand played a five-match ODI series in February as part of their preparation for the World Cup.
And it is the White Ferns who will take confidence from those recent meetings after securing a convincing 4-1 series win that featured some sparkling individual performances.
Amelia Kerr was the standout player in the series, hitting an unbeaten 119* and three half-centuries as well as picking up seven wickets, while Suzie Bates also impressed with the bat.
And early indications are that so much time in the middle also benefited captain Sophie Devine, who didn’t score particularly heavily in the series, but has been in stunning form since, scoring centuries against Australia and West Indies.
But, despite the losses, having so much practice in New Zealand conditions has also positioned India as one of the best-prepared teams in the tournament, particularly given their relative lack of game-time in the two years prior to arriving Down Under.
“The New Zealand series was played after a long gap due to COVID-19 which obviously affected the game of the players,” India’s Pooja Vastrakar said.
“We were also getting used to the ground conditions.
“Slowly and gradually when we started playing, we adapted and you can see the results of this hard work (in the tournament-opening win over Pakistan).”
Both teams will have set a minimum tournament target of reaching the semi-finals, and victory at Seddon Park would be a major boost to their chances of achieving that, particularly for a New Zealand side who can’t afford many more slip-ups after their opening-day loss to the West Indies.
THE TEAMS
New Zealand Squad: Sophie Devine (c), Amy Satterthwaite (vc), Suzie Bates, Maddy Green, Brooke Halliday, Hayley Jensen, Fran Jonas, Jess Kerr, Melie Kerr, Frankie Mackay, Rosemary Mair, Katey Martin, Georgia Plimmer, Hannah Rowe, Lea Tahuhu. Travelling Reserve: Molly Penfold
India Squad: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar, Meghna Singh, Renuka Singh Thakur, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav
CWC22 DREAM11 FANTASY WATCH
Captaincy Pick – Amelia Kerr
New Zealand’s all-rounder came into the World Cup in terrific form and offers genuine quality with both bat and ball. She was in power-hitting mode against Bangladesh last time out, blasting an unbeaten 47* from 37 balls to help the tournament hosts to victory, and has the quality to do the same sort of damage to India’s attack.
Must have – Smriti Mandhana
India’s opener is developing into one of the top batters in the game, averaging over 40 in both Test and ODI cricket. The 25-year-old got her tournament off to a typically classy start with a half-century against Pakistan, and she has the potential to be one of the stars of the tournament at the top of India’s batting line-up.
KEY PLAYERS
Jhulan Goswami: The veteran quick might be nudging closer to her 40th birthday, but Goswami still remains one of the most consistent seamers in women's cricket and her record in 50-over cricket supports this. Goswami picked up 10 wickets at the last ICC Women's Cricket World Cup in 2017 and remains one of the most feared bowlers in the game.
**Sophie Devine:**Devine's experience with bat and ball is invaluable, but it is perhaps her tactical nous that is her most underrated asset of all. The White Ferns skipper always sets good fields and generally rotates her bowlers well to ensure batters don't become too comfortable. Devine can also turn a game with bat or ball and will be crucial to the fortunes of the home nation.
WHAT THEY SAID
India’s Jhulan Goswami:“This is a big stage we’ve been waiting for since 2017, because of COVID it got postponed. So definitely we all are looking forward to this tournament and really want to do well.
“And it is important to stay mentally and physically fresh and to perform the next day, and definitely that is an area we all are working on.
“Hopefully everything will be fine and we will play cricket well, because as long as you enjoy the game and you are doing well, everything is fine.”
New Zealand’s Amy Satterthwaite: “We obviously had a successful series against them in Queenstown leading into this, it gives the group a lot of confidence, both with the bat and ball.
“But we know that it's obviously a one-off match in World Cup cricket and the series will mean nothing if you bat for zero.
“So we will use that information to our benefit where we can and then outside of that we’ve got to make sure that we turn up and perform.”
THE VENUE
The picturesque Seddon Park plays host to this match, one of seven tournament fixtures held at the ground.
The grassy stadium in Hamilton will be a familiar setting to fans of international cricket, with the ground having hosted an abundance of international matches since its first ODI - New Zealand's men against India back in 1981.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT
All eight teams at the tournament will play each other across seven rounds in a league format.
The top four teams in the standings after the conclusion of the Group Stage will qualify for the semi-finals, which will be held in the final week of March.
LATER FIXTURES
New Zealand’s tournament fixtures:
13 March v Australia
17 March v South Africa
20 March v England
26 March v Pakistan
India’s tournament fixtures:
12 March v West Indies
16 March v England
19 March v Australia
22 March v Bangladesh
27 March v South Africa