Indian women’s team head coach Romesh Powar has said that the side is still trying to find a way to pick wickets in the middle overs, after the visitors suffered their third loss in the five-match ODI series against New Zealand on Friday, February 18, 2022.
Chasing 280 runs to win, New Zealand women sprung a surprise in a fantastic turnaround to defeat India by three wickets in the third ODI here at John Davies Oval, Queenstown. This was the second-highest chase recorded in the history of women's ODIs.
Put into bat, India made 279 with S Meghana, Shafali Verma, and Deepti Sharma scoring half-centuries. For New Zealand, Hannah Rowe, and Rosemary Mair picked two wickets as well.
In reply, New Zealand lost their openers for 14 runs on the board, but then Lauren Down (64*) and Katey Martin (35) stitched together a partnership of 76 runs for the seventh wicket, before Amelia Kerr’s 67 and Amy Satterthwaite’s 59 had set the stage for a brilliant counter-attack.
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Talking about the result in a post-match conference, Powar said: "See, when we assess these all ODIs and one-off T20I, we had three days of practice sessions. I have to give it to players, in less time, you cannot get into a competitive series against a side like New Zealand so there will be rustiness. Lots of things have been discussed, in bowling, we are trying to assess how we can pick wickets in middle overs."
"There were a couple of 100-run partnerships, we are trying to break that jinx. With limited practice and quarantine, it is hard. We are on the right track, our batting has clicked. We have scored 270-280, the batting unit is doing their job and now it is about the bowling side getting into the rhythm. I have to give it bowlers also, they will come up hard when the World Cup starts," he added.
Ramesh Powar also spoke about vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s poor form as after scoring 10 runs each in the first two ODIs, she managed only 13 runs in the third match.
The coach said: "I will stick to my statement that it is up to Harman to get back into form. We can create those situations in nets but it is again up to the player to come to the right zone and do well."
Powar also clarified why Smriti Mandhana, Meghana Singh, and Renuka Singh had to undergo extended quarantine in New Zealand and said: "Smriti Mandhana will be available from the fourth ODI. We have to follow the MIQ guidelines of the New Zealand government. There is some confidentiality about the extended quarantine so we have to follow it."
"You have to play under pressure, after Australia, we did not play any game as a team. We straight away came to New Zealand, eventually, we are trying the things in the New Zealand series. There is inconsistency and we agree with it," said Powar.
The fourth ODI will be played at the same venue on Tuesday.
(ANI inputs)
