Women's World Cup: New Zealand registers first win in tournament with 100-run drubbing of Bangladesh

Guwahati (Assam) [India], October 10 (ANI): New Zealand finally opened their victory account at the ongoing Women's World Cup after orchestrating a thumping 100-run win over Bangladesh at Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Friday.

New Zealand lost their opening two fixtures against defending champions Australia and South Africa.

Sophie Devine pulled off a rescue act for the third successive time with Brooke Halliday to bail New Zealand out after Bangladesh had them surrounded in a corner. Their 112-run partnership lifted New Zealand to a competitive 227-run total.

In reply, Bangladesh struggled to keep the momentum on their side from the outset. Rosemary Mair and Jess Kerr extracted substantial movement to leave Bangladesh jolted. Bangladesh went into their shell and kept losing wickets at regular intervals as their pursuit started to fall apart.

A couple of resistance acts towards the end from Fahima Khatun (34), Nahida Akter (17) and Rabeya Khan (25) delayed the inevitable but failed to prevent it. Bangladesh was bundled out on 127 in 39.5 overs and surrendered a 100-run defeat. Mair scalped two wickets for 20 runs while Kerr returned with figures of 3/21.

In the first innings, after winning the toss and opting to bat, New Zealand felt the pressure after slumping to 38/3 in the 11th over. Leg-spinner Rabeya Khan made the batters dance to her tunes with drift and sharp turn deliveries. Georgia Plimmer (4) went past one of her deliveries and got stumped. Amelia Kerr (1) was outfoxed by the one that gripped the surface and beat the outside edge to rattle the timber.

In the space of the two dismissals, former captain Suzie Bates was run out after a terrible mix-up with Kerr and saw her promising 29 off 33 meet a bitter end. Devine and Halliday combined at the crease, remained circumspect, avoided dealing with risk and went for 62 balls without a boundary.

After getting a grasp of the surface, the duo switched gears and went all guns blazing. Out of the two, Halliday was more adventurous, sweeping the Bangladesh spinners to rob them of their rhythm. Devine, known for her brute force, took the game deep, looking to free herself from the shackles in death.

In the 39th over, Bangladesh found a moment of reprieve when Halliday (69 off 104) top-edged her slog sweep to Fahima Khatun, marking the end of the 112-run partnership. Devine and Maddy Green continued to put runs on the board until Devine's attempted a shot across the line ended her crusade on 63.

Reduced to 179/5 with still six overs left to play, Isabella Gaze and Lea Tahuhu chipped in with their influential cameos. They muscled crucial blows towards the end to power New Zealand to 227/9. (ANI)

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