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For India, the wounds from their early elimination from the T20 World Cup are probably still raw. However, Harmanpreet Kaur’s team will be eager to improve in ODIs when they play New Zealand, the recent T20 winners, in three ODIs in Ahmedabad beginning Thursday. Despite being at full strength, New Zealand has not played well in ODIs, losing five of their six 2024 matches. The visitors will be eager to earn a spot in the 2025 ODI World Cup, which will take place in India, since Women’s Championship points are up for grabs.
New Zealand’s batting
New Zealand has only produced totals above 250 four times since the beginning of 2023, despite batting first eleven out of fifteen times. Amelia Kerr is the second-highest run scorer for New Zealand this season in ODIs, but she hasn’t been able to turn beginnings into significant ones, and Georgia Plimmer and Suzie Bates haven’t had a good front-row partnership. Their batting hasn’t taken off, but Brooke Halliday’s two fifties in five innings have given them consistency in the middle order.
Harman the skipper
Harmanpreet’s leadership has been under scrutiny since the T20 World Cup group stage loss; former captain Mithali Raj even suggested that India should fire her. With the ODI World Cup approaching next year, a top-level change is improbable, and Harmanpreet has an opportunity to change things in this series. However, there are no doubts about her hitting form. She just finished the second ODI against South Africa in June of this year with an undefeated score of 103 and 42.
Championship points
The importance of these three matches for New Zealand is demonstrated by the fact that the nucleus of the T20 World Cup-winning team, which includes the seasoned trio of Sophie Devine, Suzie Bates, and Lea Tahuhu, flew straight from Dubai to Ahmedabad. With 18 points from 18 games, New Zealand is presently ranked sixth in the Women’s Championship, which includes the ODIs.
With just six games left in the cycle, New Zealand will host Australia for a three-match series in Wellington in December to solidify their place, since the top five nations and hosts India will automatically qualify for the Women’s ODI World Cup the following year.
India No. 3
In the white-ball formats, India has yet to identify their number three hitter. In ODIs, Yastika Bhatia was playing in that role, but her results were mediocre. D Hemalatha, Priya Punia, and Richa Ghosh are the three other players India has attempted at this position in ODIs over the past 12 months. Due to her board examinations, Ghosh is unable to participate in this series, and Punia was dismissed after just one inning of her comeback. Yastika, who is expected to start at number three, will be India’s first-choice keeper in the starting lineup in Ghosh’s absence. Will India move Jemimah Rodrigues up from No. 5 after she has batted in the top order in 21 of her 30 games?
Recent form
India recovered to finish a 3-0 series whitewash of South Africa in Bengaluru following a 3-0 loss to Australia in Mumbai. India’s last ODI was played in Ahmedabad in 2013, thus even though they are playing at home, the conditions are strange. Mandhana has played in three of the previous four ODIs at this location, while Harmanpreet is the only member of the present squad to have appeared in all four.
However, New Zealand enters the series having lost both of their series matches against England: 2-1 in New Zealand and 3-0 in England. New Zealand, buoyed by their victory in the T20 World Cup, will be eager to reverse the trend in the 50-over format after winning five of their last nine games.