NZ vs Ind: Great to get four wins against quality side, says Amelia Kerr
Feb 22, 2022
Queenstown [New Zealand], February 22 : New Zealand batter Amelia Kerr expressed happiness after her breakthrough knock helped White Ferns in defeating India in the fourth ODI of the five-match series here at the John Davies Oval, Queenstown on Tuesday.
Amelia Kerr's 68-run knock was followed up by a dominant bowling performance as New Zealand defeated India by 63 runs. The fourth ODI was curtailed to 20-overs per side after rain played spoilsport.
"With the rain, we were wondering if we would get on and in the end, it turned out into a T20 match which is always good fun. It was nice to post a good total, Sophie and Suzie got off to flyers and I just carried that momentum. I have done a lot of work throughout the winter on my batting," said Amelia Kerr after the game.
"I have been training similar to a game situation. It is great to get four wins against a quality side and they have been very successful in the women's game. To have that belief and confidence with the bat is massive heading into the World Cup," she added.
Chasing 192, India got off to the worst start possible as the side lost Shafali Verma (0), Yastika Bhatia (0) and Pooja Vastrakar (4) in quick succession and they were reduced to 12/3 in the third over. Soon after, Smriti Mandhana (13) was sent back to the pavilion by Hayley Jensen and India was in a spot of bother at 19/4 in the fifth over.
Richa Ghosh and Mithali Raj then got together at the crease and the duo revived the Indian innings. Ghosh brought up her fifty off just 26 balls and as a result, she registered the fastest fifty by an Indian batter in Women's ODIs. However, the 18-year-old departed after playing a knock of 52 in the 13th over and India was reduced to 96/5.
India was not able to recover from this blow, and in the end, New Zealand registered a comfortable win.
With this win, New Zealand has gained a 4-0 lead in the five-match series. The final ODI will now be played on Thursday.
