Devine leads New Zealand to victory over India, S.Africa hammer Windies at Women's T20 World Cup

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine led from the front with an unbeaten 57 in her team’s 58-run win over India in their opening match of the Women’s T20 World Cup on Friday.

Devine, who hit seven fours in a late blast, steered New Zealand to 160-4 despite a stutter after she had elected to bat first in Dubai.

Medium-pace bowlers Rosemary Mair and Lea Tahuhu then shared seven wickets to bowl out India for 102 in 19 overs to end New Zealand’s 10-match losing streak.

“It was tough work out there, pace off and trying to find the gaps,” player of the match Devine said.

“A bit scratchy to start with. Just really happy to contribute. We’ve worked so hard over the last six months, nice to see the team get their reward.”

New Zealand started strongly with a brisk opening stand of 67 between Suzie Bates, who made 27, and Georgia Plimmer, who hit 34.

Bates survived a reprieve on 18 when wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh dropped a skier as the ball popped out off her gloves off the bowling of Arundhati Reddy.

The bowler finally had Bates caught at deep mid-wicket in her next over for the first breakthrough.

Plimmer followed her opening partner three balls later caught off leg-spinner Asha Sobhana.

Controversy erupted when skipper Harmanpreet Kaur ran out Amelia Kerr with a throw from the deep to the wicketkeeper, who whipped the bails off, but the umpire called the batter back because the ball had been ‘dead’.

Kaur remained unhappy and had a long discussion with the umpires before grudgingly getting back to the game, but Kerr was out, caught, two balls later in the next over.

Devine stood firm and took the attack to the opposition with regular boundaries. She reached her fifty with a four as New Zealand hit 37 runs off the last three overs.

The 35-year-old Devine will step down as captain at the end of the tournament after playing in every World Cup, earning two runner-up finishes.

India were never in the chase after losing openers Shafali Verma, for two, and Smriti Mandhana, for 12, inside the first five overs. Both fell to Eden Carson’s off-spin.

Mair had Kaur lbw for 15 to further dent the chase and finished off the match with two successive wickets to return figures of 4-19.

Tahuhu rattled the middle-order including Jemimah Rodrigues, Ghosh and Deepti Sharma.

“We didn’t play our best Cricket,” said Kaur.

Earlier, skipper Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits fired South Africa to a crushing 10-wicket win over the West Indies.

Left-arm spinner Nonkululeko Mlaba set up the win with bowling figures of 4-29 to restrict 2016 champions West Indies to 118-6 in Dubai.

Wolvaardt, who hit 59, and Brits, who made 57, then took charge to steer last year’s finalists to 119-0 in 17.5 overs.

Wolvaardt was tested early in her knock by the West Indies bowlers but once she found rhythm, the right-handed opener reached her 50 in 45 balls.

“Not that easy,” Wolvaardt said of her performance in the extreme heat of Dubai. “One of the harder knocks I have had physically, especially after fielding first.”

Brits also raised her half-ton in 45 balls and ended her knock with six boundaries.

Wolvaardt survived reprieves on five and 33 -- on both occasions a return catch dropped by the bowler and on the first West Indies’ Zaida James getting cut on her jaw when the ball ricocheted off the hand.

James, a left-arm spinner who shared the new ball with Chinelle Henry, left the field with a swollen jaw after just bowling one ball of her first over and never returned.

Earlier, the West Indies suffered from regular wicket-fall and struggled to put up a fighting total despite an unbeaten 44 from number-three batter Stafanie Taylor.

Marizanne Kapp, a medium-fast bowler, struck first with the wicket of skipper Hayley Matthews, out for 10, and soon Mlaba sent back Qiana Joseph, for four.

Mlaba, named player of the match, kept the batters in a spin with her change of pace and angle and took two wickets in two overs to flatten the West Indian batting.

Kapp returned figures of 2-14 including the wicket of Deandra Dottin, who reversed her retirement decision for this edition of the tournament.

“It was a very disappointing game and not the way we wanted to start,” said Matthews. “We have a game in two days’ time and we have to bounce back quickly.”

Agence France-Presse