India crusies past New Zealand to reach semi-finals

It was a virtual quarter-final at The County Ground, with the winner guaranteed to join England, Australia and South Africa in the last-four, and India took advantage of being put in to bat by posting 265 for seven from its 50 overs.

Raj’s classy 109 – her sixth ODI ton – was supplemented by Veda Krishnamurthy’s explosive 70 off just 45 balls before its pace bowlers took early wickets and then left-arm spinner Gayakwad, playing her first game of the tournament, ripped through the White Ferns’ lower order.

New Zealand made its lowest-ever ICC WWC total – just 79 – and India now goes into the semi-final against Australia in Derby on Thursday full of confidence. England and South Africa will contest the other semi-final in Bristol earlier on Monday.

“I’m extremely happy,” said Raj. “For a couple of us, this will be our last World Cup, so our first aim was to enter the semi-finals.

“I've always dreamt of getting runs for my country – that hunger never dies. There were two vital stands, with Harmanpreet Kaur and then Veda joining me.

“Veda’s 60-odd knock was as important as my 100. Harmanpreet's knock was important too.

“If you're aiming to be in the top four teams in the world, you have to come back after defeats. In the previous World Cups we hadn't done that, so it was important to fire today.”

A slow start saw both India’s openers dismissed cheaply – Poonam Raut edging to slip and Hannah Rowe sending Smriti Mandhana’s off-stump cartwheeling out of the ground – but Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur (60 from 90 balls) rebuilt from 21 for two.

The skipper brought up her 50 with a classy flick off her legs for four, while Kaur clubbed back-to-back boundaries before chipping the ball straight to bowler Leigh Kasperek (three for 45) to end the partnership at 132.

Deepti Sharma failed to score before being spectacularly caught behind by Rachel Priest off Rowe as the score moved to 154 for 4 but Krishnamurthy’s powerful hitting ensured an imposing total.

The 24-year-old made her sixth ODI half-century, smacking seven fours and a pair of sixes – including a maximum over long-on, followed by boundaries through square leg and the covers from consecutive balls in the 47th over.

That meant her run out on the penultimate delivery, which followed Raj being caught on the boundary by Amy Satterthwaite off Kasperek’s bowling two balls prior, mattered little as New Zealand required 266 for a place in the semi-finals.

A quick start was vital but instead the White Ferns collapsed to 27 for three – the dangerous Suzie Bates getting a leading edge to second slip from Shikha Pandey’s first ball, Priest getting out caught and bowled and Katey Martin drilling Sharma straight to short midwicket.

When Satterthwaite was stumped for 26 by Sushma Verma trying to loft Gayakwad over the top, which started a run of five wickets falling for 11 runs, the writing was on the wall.

And India finished the job in double quick time as the final wicket of Kasperek – clean bowled by Gayakwad to complete her five-wicket haul – came in the 26th over.

“We were nowhere near as good as we needed to be,” said New Zealand captain Bates. “That's how it's been in pressure games this tournament – we haven’t turned up when we needed to.

“We started really well, but in the middle phase we haven't been able to break partnerships.

“There's going to be lot of reviews of our team because we were expected to make the semi-finals.

“It was a good batting track but we wanted to keep them under 250. Even when we didn’t, I thought that with our batting line-up we could go close.”

Scores in brief:

India beat New Zealand by 186 runs at The County Ground, Derby

India 265-7 in 50 overs (Mithali Raj 109, Veda Krishnamurthy 70, Harmanpreet Kaur 60; Leigh Kasperek 3-45, Hannah Rowe 2-30)

New Zealand 79 all out in 25.3 overs (Amy Satterthwaite 26; Rajeshwari Gayakwad 5-15, Deepti Sharma 2-26)

Player of the match – Mithali Raj (India)