(Cricket news) New Zealand convincingly defeated India by 18 runs in the one-off T20. Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and put New Zealand into bat first. Surprisingly India lined up without skipper Smriti Mandhana and seamers Meghna Singh and Renuka Singh Thakur. It was later made clear that the trio were still in managed isolation and will also miss the 1st ODI which is to be played in 3 days time.

In the first innings, New Zealand managed 155/5 thanks to a steady opening partnership of Susie Bates and Sofie Devine. Lea Tahuhu and Maddy Green fired late in the innings after losing quick wickets in the middle overs. Pooja Vastrakar and Deepti Sharma picked up two wickets each while Rajeshwari Gaikwad got one scalp. The conditions were heavily in favour of the seamers but India played only two seamers because the other two in the squad were unavailable. Seamer Simran Dil Bahadur's inexperience clearly showed as she only bowled two overs and gave away 26 runs. The Indian spinners did reasonably well as 156 was a chase-able total.

Things didn't go to plan for India in the run chase. After a decent start by openers Shafali Verma and Yashika Bhatia, S. Meghna played a wonderful knock of 37 from 30 balls, she hit 6 rather glorious looking boundaries in her innings. The middle order batters' performance is definitely a very big plus point for India. Meghna isn't a part of the squad for the ODI series and the World Cup but will be staying back with the team as a stand-by. With Smriti Mandhana set to miss at least the 1st ODI, Megha may get a chance to try and break her way into the squad. India in the end lost too many wickets and fell short.

This Indian side has a tendency to play really well and still lose the match due to mistakes and inability to capitalise on key moments. That can't happen in the World Cup and the upcoming 5 ODIs in the place where the World Cup is going to be played is a huge blessing and a massive advantage. This game didn't have any significance but it was just a chance to get used to the conditions a bit. The goals may have been achieved in the T20 but the results need to come in the ODI series and then the World Cup.

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