New Zealand shock India at Women’s T20 World Cup

The Women’s T20 World Cup has had its first big upset, with New Zealand defeating India by 58 runs in Dubai on Friday.

Rosemary Mair and Lea Tahuhu were the primary architects of the Kiwi victory, grabbing seven wickets between them as India were skittled for 102 in pursuit of a 161-run target.

Having elected to bat first, New Zealand started strong with healthy contributions from Suzie Bates (27 from 24) and Georgia Plimmer (34 from 23) at the top of the order.

After both fell in the space of four balls, captain Sophie Devine took the reins and rebuilt the innings, hitting an unbeaten 57 runs from 36 balls as New Zealand made 160/4.

“I’m really proud of this group,” declared Devine after the match.

“People have been speaking about our recent results, coming out against a world-class side like India.

“To produce that performance I’m overwhelmed.

“We’ve been targeting this game for a long time.

“To come out and lay a marker is great, but we’ve got a long way to go in the tournament.”

India’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur was understandably more sombre in her post-match comments, highlighting how much her side needs to improve if they are to have a realistic title chance.

“We didn’t play our best cricket,” she reflected.

“Going forward we know every game is important.

“We created chances but we were not able to avail those chances.

“They played better cricket than us, no doubt about that.

“We know this group is capable of better.

“This wasn’t the start we were expecting but we have to go from here.”

Heading into the tournament, India (+250) were second favourites to win behind six-time champions Australia (-136.99), while New Zealand (+2200) were in the sixth line of betting to claim their first title.

The upset leaves India in a precarious position in Group A and lengthens their odds of winning the Women’s T20 World Cup to +750 across most cricket betting sites.

New Zealand’s odds have jumped, on the other hand, with Bovada listing them in the fourth line of betting at +1000 now.

Next up, India face a blockbuster encounter with Pakistan, where they are -714.29 favourites to prevail.

New Zealand play trans-Tasman rivals Australia, who are -1250 favourites to beat Sri Lanka as they get their Women’s T20 World Cup campaign underway this Saturday in Sharjah.

Sports news