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IND Women vs NZ Women 2024/25, IND-W vs NZ-W 2nd ODI Match Report, October 27, 2024

New Zealand Batting 259 for 9 (Devine 79, Bates 58, Radha 4-69). India women 183 (Radha 48, Devine 3-27, Tahuhu 3-42) for 76 runs

It was a day when Radha Yadav could do it all: fly like a superwoman and take two stunning catches, score 4 for 69 with the ball, become India's top scorer with 48 from number 9 and add 70 with Saima Thakor for the ninth wicket. This was not only India's best stand in the chase of 260 against New Zealand on Sunday, but also their highest ODI partnership for that wicket.

But unfortunately, all these performances could not help India avoid defeat. New Zealand, led by an all-round show from their captain Sophie Devine, secured a comfortable 76-run win to take the series to decider. In addition, New Zealand also picked up crucial points in the Women's Championship to secure direct qualification for next year's World Cup.

Devine hit 79, ending a quiet spell with the bat for her side, eventually taking New Zealand's first innings total to 259. With the ball she beat her opponent Harmanpreet Kaur and also Jemimah Rodrigues. India's chase was never on track after this brief stand on both sides and, despite some resilience towards the end of the contest, was good.

Five overs into the chase, India were 26 for 3 with Smriti Mandhana falling for no score. She beat Lea Tahuhu to score a point in the first round before Jess Kerr put Shafali Verma ahead for an entertaining 11 in the fourth round. Next, Tahuhu left Yastika Bhatia behind wicketkeeper Izzy Gaze, who finished the day with four catches.

Kaur and Rodrigues added 38 for the fourth wicket and that remained India's highest until Radha and Thakor reached 70 for the ninth wicket. Kaur's 24 was the highest achieved by a top-seven Indian batsman, and at 77 for 5 in the 18th wicket over, the wheels had fallen off.

However, the fact that it was a difficult target to chase was thanks to the half-centuries of Devine and Suzie Bates. Bates, who scored 58, shared a stand of 87 with Georgia Plimmer for the first wicket, setting the tone for New Zealand, whose innings could be split into four different quarters. The first belonged to Bates and Plimmer, who hit a combined 13 fours and a six in the first 15 overs.

But in the tenth over, Plimmer was dropped by Deepti Sharma as he dropped the first of three catches by the all-rounder on the 16th over. Plimmer and Bates relied primarily on timing and placement rather than power. Harmanpreet, who returned to the team after missing the first ODI due to a failure, added spin in the sixth over but it hardly dented New Zealand's momentum.

The breakthrough finally came when Radha took the first of her two great catches in the 16th over. Placed at mid-wicket, she moved quickly to the right before diving at full speed to catch Plimmer for 41 from Deepti. This began a run of 12 overs in which New Zealand scored just 34 for the loss of three wickets.

Bates reached fifty to start the 19th over, but on the next ball Deepti put her down at mid-wicket, opting to raise only her right hand instead of using both hands. However, two overs later, one of Bates's attacks to the ground deflected off the hands of debutant Priya Mishra and Lauren Down was short at the non-striker's end.

In the 27th minute, Radha had Bates caught and bowled for 58, but Devine stood firm at the other end. This began a phase of the game in which New Zealand stabilized. In the next 17 overs they scored 84 and lost only one wicket. Devine hit, hit and pulled for boundaries, but in the 32nd over, Radha once again stunned New Zealand with her fielding. Now placed in extra cover, she sprinted and dived at full speed to catch Brooke Halliday for eight.

But Devine and Green ensured that India did not run away with the game, even as Deepti also dropped Green for 6 in the 34th over. The two batters ticked on, with Devine snuffing out an lbw decision against them at 36. She reached her 50 off 65 balls in the 41st over and set up a solid finish. In the last six overs, New Zealand hit 55 runs, with Green Thakor driving, ramping and hitting to score successive boundaries in the 45th over.

Radha sent Green out long-off for 42 in the next over, but Jess Kerr's boundaries and a six from Devine took New Zealand to 259. That proved more than enough, although Radha struck twice in a row in the penultimate over had .

Himanshu Agrawal is an editor at ESPNcricinfo

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