Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal smash centuries to help IND beat NZ

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India openers Pratika Rawal (122, 13×4, 2×6) and Smriti Mandhana (109, 10×4, 4×6) scored scintillating centuries while local girl Jemimah Rodrigues (55-ball 76 not out, 11×4) contributed a half-century as the hosts posted a mammoth 340-3 in 49 overs in the ICC Women’s ODI match against NZ at the DY Patil Stadium here on 
Thursday. 

The match was later rescheduled to 44 overs due to rain interruptions and the revised target for NZ was 325. The game was halted for the first time due to heavy showers when the hosts were on 329-2 after 48 overs with Rodrigues and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on 69 and 10 respectively.
 
Put into bat, Mandhana and Rawal got just six runs on the board in the first four overs and India were 40 without loss after 10. Mandhana, who took nine balls to open her account, got her first four of the innings through a sweep against off-spinner Eden Carson in the seventh over of the innings. The left-hander, however, slowly but surely grew in confidence and, in Carson’s next over, danced down the track to smash her for a maximum over the long off fence. 

Mandhana exhibited some classy pull, cut shots, besides some lofty ones too as she reached her 14th ODI century in just 89 balls. Rawal, meanwhile, came up with some stylish drives, pulls and flicks of her own. 

Mandhana and Rawal recorded India’s highest-ever opening partnership in the history of the Women’s World Cup, stitching 212 runs off 208 balls. Rawal even crossed 1,000 ODI runs en route, showing her class all the way and equalled the world record of reaching the milestone in just her 23rd ODI, matching Australian batter Lindsay Reeler. 

In their chase of the revised target of 325 (as per the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method), NZ got off to a poor start when India’s young pacer Kranti Gaud, 22, provided the first breakthrough by dismissing opener Suzie Bates (1) in her very first over.

At the time of going to press, NZ were 204-5 in 35 overs, still needing 121 off 54 balls.

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No. of 200-run plus stands between Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal in ODIs

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