In the history of the tourney, the two teams have met each other on four occasions
India opens its ICC Women’s T20 World Cup campaign against New Zealand, an opponent that has always gotten the better of India on multiple occasions in the last decade. However, when it comes to the T20I World Cup, the two teams have levelled against each other. Having played four games, two games went in India’s favour, whereas the other two were in New Zealand’s. Therefore, the opening game for the two sides is a tiebreaker that India hopes to win against its much superior rival.
In the initial years, New Zealand enjoyed an upper hand over India in the tourney. However, despite several losses, India has found its rhythm back against New Zealand in the recent T20 World Cup bouts.
The rivalry of the two sides in the T20 World Cup started on June 18, 2009, when New Zealand took on India in the semi-final at Nottingham. Almost a decade ago, when the Indian women’s T20 unit was pretty much in its nascent stage, a semi-final appearance was more than the cricket fraternity expected. Unfortunately, that was the end of the road for India because they were handed over an embarrassing defeat.
Batting first, New Zealand posted a target of 145, but in response, India could manage only 93 runs in 20 overs. Only two Indian players scored above 20, whereas eight players went back to the pavilion with single-digit scores. A young Harmanpreet Kaur was gone for a duck.
The ICC Women’s T20 World Cup returned the following year, with India and New Zealand put together in the same group. In the fourth match, New Zealand batted first and posted a target of 139 runs. Unlike 2009, the women in blue put up a fight but missed the target by 10 runs. Harmanpreet Kaur, who is the only player from that squad to feature in this year’s World Cup, managed only four runs.
After a hiatus of eight long years, India and New Zealand once again clashed in the group stage. However, unlike the previous two editions, this match in question was all about India seeking revenge and, for Harmanpreet, a much-needed redemption against the Kiwis. Batting first, Kaur unleashed her wrath and scored 103 runs in merely 51 balls, and alongside her, Jemimah Rodrigues added 59 to give India a total of 194 runs. In the second innings, the duo of Dayalan Hemalatha and Poonam Yadav picked up six wickets each to wrap up the Kiwis’ chase of 160 runs.
The most recent clash between the two sides in the T20 World Cup was the Group A match in 2020. Batting first, India was restricted to merely 133 runs, with Harmanpreet once again struggling with the bat, contributing only one run. However, Shafali Verma’s 46 helped India post a decent target. The Indian bowlers, though, did not concede too many runs and stopped the Kiwis from reaching the gettable target of 133.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur will be eager to prove herself against an opponent that has always been a hurdle in her T20 ventures, whereas India will perform to win the tiebreaker.
