Chennai: Indian T20I captain Harmanpreet Kaur became the first Indian woman to score a century in T20 internationals as she slammed a match-winning 103 in the Women’s World cup opener against New Zealand at Guyana on Friday.
Opting to bat first, India was tested with some fiery bowling from New Zealand. Soon three wickets fell in quick succession. Kaur then came in at five and combined with Jemimah Rodrigues, to steady the innings. She stitched a record 134-run partnership with Jemimah Rodrigues to put India in command.
In the process, Kaur notched up her century and became the first Indian to score a century in the T20 format. She finally fell for 103 off 51 balls; the knock included eight sixes, with one of them soaring into the stands.
Ably supporting the skipper, 18-year-old, Jemimah scored an equally efficient 45-ball 59 and etched her name in record books after becoming the youngest Indian to notch a T20I half-century.
Their partnership helped India post a challenging total of 194. This was Indias highest ever score at the World T20.
Chasing 195, New Zealand failed miserably, despite a gritty half-century from Suzie Bates and ended up scoring 160/9 in 20 overs, losing by 34 runs.
Harmanpreet Kaur was adjudged the man of the match and said the team still needs to improve in lot of areas. “Excited, but it is just the beginning, still a long way to go. There are a lot of areas we need to improve as a team. As a bowling unit, we need to improve. We need to improve in the first six overs.”
She also credited Jemimah for her knock. “I knew if I settle down, I can go for my shots. Jemimah played really well. When you are hitting well, you need someone who can rotate the strike. Credit goes to her, she also played really well. She is very mature. She likes to express herself and never takes pressure. We need young players who are excited to play international cricket.”
On coach Ramesh Powar, she said, “Winning and losing is part of the game. The time he arrived, our mindset changed and that’s a plus point. He has a lot of experience and that is helping us. We are really happy to have him in the team.”
New Zealand captain Amy Sattherwaite said, they got outplayed completely. “We had seen their key players in the competitions around the world, so we know their team pretty well. To be honest, we got outplayed. Tahuhu was fantastic in the beginning, that’s what she’s there for. Really disappointed with how we failed to execute plans,” she said.
India will now take on Pakistan in their second match of the tournament on Sunday, 11 November while New Zealand play Australia on Tuesday, 13 November.