White Ferns run in to congratulate India opener Smriti Mandhana after she carved up her match-winning fourth ODI century at McLean Park, Napier, tonight. Photo/Photosport
White Ferns run in to congratulate India opener Smriti Mandhana after she carved up her match-winning fourth ODI century at McLean Park, Napier, tonight. Photo/Photosport
You have to ask if the White Ferns were watching the Black Caps versus India one-day international match in Napier the day before.
If not, then perhaps someone should have had the foresight to have a chin wag with captain Kane Williamson about the merits of bringing one's collective "smarts" to the McLean Park crease.
Somehow you get the feeling India women did all of the above as they emulated their men to claim a nine-wicket victory over the New Zealand women in their opening GJ Gardener ODI Series match today.
Having won the toss, India women's captain, Mithali Raj, elected to field before restricting Amy Satterthwaite's outfit to 192 with eight balls to spare.
"It's minimum, to be honest," Satterthwaite rightly lamented when asked if another 50-odd runs would have been a better total to defend.
The parallels with the men's ODI were alarmingly striking for the Haidee Tiffen-coached New Zealand side.
The White Ferns top-order batsmen made promising starts — openers Suzie Bates (36) and Sophie Devine (28), Satterthwaite (31) and Amelia Kerr (28) — but none went on to turn her double figures into 50s or 100s.
Hannah Rowe (25) and Holly Huddleston (10) gave the total some respectability with some lusty hitting at the tail end.
Satterthwaite said the way they had started had the promise of a decent platform for their lower order to launch from but, alas, it didn't transpire.
The Cantabrian felt "at times we let them bowl to us too much" although she said Raj setting a tight field forced them to take risks.
Asked if the wicket demanded some patience, Satterthwaite said to an extent but perhaps too patient with the bat, when simply rotating the strike would have been better although that might have been the case with the ball.
"We didn't apply enough pressure [with the ball] and we didn't string enough dot balls together so they always released that [pressure] with a four ball so you're constantly chasing the target so it kind of makes it tough," she said.
It was imperative, she said, to find some quick options pretty smartly against a quality Indian unit before the second ODI at Mt Maunganui on Tuesday next week.
"I guess it's a bit of mental challenge to step up but we've got to believe that we can do it and it's not just about relying on Suzie Bates and myself but the whole batting order."
With a World Cup beckoning in New Zealand in a couple of years, Satterthwaite emphasised it was an opportune time to develop more players.
"We have to keep trying players to see what they can do at this level," she said.
Akin to their men, India women bowled predominantly with the discipline of line and length.
Their tweakers bossed the wicket after veteran seamer Jhulan Goswami and fellow seamer Shikha Pandey found little joy with the new ball.
Consequently Raj went to spinners Ekta Bisht (3-23), Poonam Yadav (3-42) and Deepti Sharma (2-27) to stymie any potential partnerships from blossoming.
Again, juxtaposing the innings with the blokes, it's fair to deduce the Kiwi women failed to find the fortitude to occupy the crease on the platform of patience.
In reply, the tourists spanked the New Zealand bowlers to just about every nook and corner of the park, rarely offering a chance for dismissal as they eclipsed the target with 1-193 with 17 overs to spare.
They showed composure and chose clinical placements earlier in the run chase before peppering the park with 18 boundaries and three sixes between them.
India openers Smriti Mandhana (left) and Jemimah Rodrigues' smiles say it all as they carved up the White Ferns' bowling attack in their ODI opener in Napier today. Photo/Photosport
In fact, it had become a two-horse race between openers Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues to see who would reach 100 first. The former, a 22-year-old left-hander who flicked her wrist in deft subcontinent fashion, got to her milestone fourth ODI century to hole out for 105 from 104 balls, including nine boundaries and three sixes, with three more runs required to clinch victory.
Rodrigues, the disappointment aside of not chalking up her maiden ton, claimed the milestone of an unbeaten 81 from 94 balls, including nine fours. The 18-year-old eclipsed her previous best of 42 runs in just her fifth ODI for her country.
The pair put to rest any suggestions that India rely too much on Raj to carve up runs. The investment in their youth is beginning to pay dividends.
"I really thought the wicket was really good to bat and, initially, we played according to the merit of the ball," Mandhana said, revealing it was coach WV Raman's mantra to "just react to the ball".
She hailed the markedly cooler, overcast conditions which were a stark contrast to yesterday's 30-plus climes that had stalled the men's ODI for 40 minutes.
Mandhana said the rate at which India were ticking the scoreboard they should have posted 300 but anything above 250 would have been defendable.
The blueprint of simplicity, she said, was to see what the new ball would do before finding the boundary ropes on the first ODIs at McLean Park since February 2017 due to poor drainage.
For a beaming Mandhana it was reassuring to break the hoodoo of losing her wicket in the 70s and 80s.
"I told myself not to hit any rash shots so just play the singles and doubles ... but if we had scored three more runs then I would have been much happier," said the cricketer who sports a permanent smile on the batting crease.
The White Ferns stuck dogmatically to the ritual of persisting with opening seamers Lea Tahuhu and Hannah Rowe for 10 overs then adding Holly Huddleston at first change before introducing spinner Leigh Kasperek in the 12th over.
By the time Kerr came into the attack the batsmen had got their eye in on too many loose deliveries.
After all, didn't the late Martin Crowe, as skipper, break from tradition to open with spinner Dipak Patel in the 1992 World Cup with lethal results?
Satterthwaite disagreed, saying they had to back all their bowlers rather than pigeon-holing them to certain types of wickets.
"I think that anyone, when they can get it right, can do it but I don't think anyone created any pressure today," she said, lending credence to the assertion that no bowler was worthy of a mention today.
White Ferns captain Amy Satterthwaite (left), Maddy Green, Lea Tahuhu, Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates will have stand firm if they are to beat a classy India in the ODI series. Photo/Photosport
