Sophie Devine’s brilliance floors India in Women’s T20 World Cup cricket

Sophie Devine’s batting was simply divine. Delightful too. More importantly, it was effective. So effective that it helped New Zealand snap a 10-match losing streak in T20 Internationals. The Kiwi captain led from the front, and her 36-ball unbeaten 57 fashioned a crunching 58-run victory over India in the Women’s T20 World Cup on Friday. India managed only 102, chasing New Zealand’s 160/4, and the sizeable crowd went home disappointed.

New Zealand seemed to have come to the Dubai International Cricket Stadium to prove they are not as bad as their recent abysmal record. Opting to bat, openers Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer tore into the Indian attack, smashing 55 in the powerplay before India gained a breakthrough in the eighth over. By then, New Zealand had rattled off 67.

Medium pacer Arundhati Reddy accounted for Bates, leg-spinner Asha Sobhana dismissed Plimmer three balls later. That set the stage for the Devine show. The New Zealand skipper took a couple of overs to settle down before she unveiled her repertoire of strokes. Devine showed why she’s one of women cricket’s superstars and New Zealand’s bulwark.

It was a maestro at work. Devine’s dismantling of leggie Sobhana showed her class. After coming down the wicket to thread a boundary past the bowler and mid-off, Devine stayed back to pull the next delivery to the square-leg fence. She went on to manipulate the bowlers to score boundaries at will — Devine struck seven fours, all of which stood out for their clinical execution and placement.

The Kiwi skipper added 32 with Amelia Ker, 46 with Brooke Halliday and an unbeaten 15 off eight balls with Maddy Green. These partnerships helped New Zealand post 160/4 — the first 150-plus score in a tournament where the first three were low-scoring games.

Player of the Match Devine told the official broadcaster: “The platform at the top of the innings from Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer set the tone. Me and Melie [Kerr] were maybe a bit slow through overs 7-12, but we were able to go hard at the back end. It was tough work out there, pace off and trying to find the gaps.”

Faced with a tall target, India needed a good start, a few partnerships and a batter to reprise the Devine knock. None materialised as New Zealand grabbed early wickets on a pitch where the ball tended to stop and come. The Kiwi bowlers exploited it very well, with Rosemary Mair (4-19), Leah Tahuhu (3-15) and Eden Carson (2-34) sharing the spoils.

Opener Shafali Verma got a leading edge, fellow opener Smriti Mandhana was caught on the fence, and captain Harmanpreet Kaur was trapped in front — all inside the power play. Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh buckled under pressure to maintain the required run rate, and the wheels came off the Indian innings. They were undone by the Devine show.

Captain Kaur admitted that India didn’t play their best cricket. “Going forward, we know every game is important. We created chances, but we were not able to use them. They played better cricket than us. Fielding, we made some mistakes, so that is a learning for us going forward,” she said during a post-match chat with the broadcaster.

Brief scores:

New Zealand: 160/4 in 20 overs (Sophie Devine 57 not out, Georgia Plimmer 34, Suzie Bates 35, Renuka Singh 2-27) beat India: 102 all out in 19 overs (Rosemary Mair 4-19, Leah Tahuhu 3-15, Eden Carson 2-34) by 58 runs