Smriti Mandhana records India women's fastest T20I fifty
Smriti Mandhana's explosive half-century was not enough to take India to victory at Wellington
The New Zealand women's cricket team defeated India women by 23 runs in the first T20I in the three-match series at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Wednesday.
Indian team captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and decided to bowl first. New Zealand scored 159/ 4 in 20 overs. They did not start well and lost their opener Suzie Bates when the score was just 11 runs. She was caught out by Taniya Bhatia off Radha Yadav after scoring 7 runs.
After the early dismissal, opener Sophie Devine added 36 runs for the second wicket with Caitlin Gurrey. Poonam Yadav broke the partnership by castling Gurrey (15) when the score was 47 runs. Amy Satterthwaite replaced her and added another 69 runs for the third wicket with Devine. Katey Martin's cameo swelled the total to 159.
Chasing the target, the Indian team got all out for 136 runs in 19.1 overs. The last nine wickets fell for just 34 runs. Smriti Mandhana was the top scorer for India with 58 runs from 34 balls.
Apart from Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues scored 39 runs with the help of six boundaries. No other batter could even get to the double-digit mark and two were out for ducks. As a result, India were bundled out in the final over.
Indian opener Smriti Mandhana completed her half-century in just 24 balls and broke her own record of being the fastest Indian batter to score a half-century in T20Is. Her previous best was off 25 balls against England in Mumbai in March last year.
Overall, the record for the fastest half-century in T20I women cricket is currently in the hands of Sophie Devine of New Zealand. In 2005, she created this record after scoring a half-century in just 18 balls against India in Bangalore.
Brief Scores: New Zealand Women - 159/4 in 20 overs (Sophie Devine 62, Amy Satterthwaite 33, Deepti Sharma 1/19) beat India Women - 136 all out in 19.1 overs (Smriti Mandhana 58, Jemimah Rodrigues 39, Lea Tahuhu 3/20, Leigh Kasperek 2/25) by 23 runs