Delhi: The Indian women's team had a disappointing start in the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024. In the first match, New Zealand defeated Team India by 58 runs. New Zealand won the toss and batted first and scored 160 runs, in response to which India was bundled out for 102 runs in 19 overs. Now the next match of the Indian team will be against Pakistan on Sunday.

The Indian team, which set out to chase the target of 161 runs, had a very bad start. Openers Shefali Verma and Smriti Mandhana returned to the pavilion in the power play itself. After this, captain Harmanpreet Kaur also got out soon, due to which the pressure on the team kept increasing and the middle order failed to handle it.

India's top order seems to be struggling in the World Cup. The team's performance even in the warm-up match was not special. Shefali Verma could score only 2 runs against New Zealand, while Smriti Mandhana could add only 12 runs and Harmanpreet Kaur could add only 15 runs. Jemimah Rodriguez, who performed better in the warm-up match, was also able to score only 13 runs, while Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma contributed 13 runs each.

Excellent batting by women batsmen of Kiwi team

The Indian team's performance in bowling was also poor. During the power play, New Zealand's openers made a partnership of 67 runs without losing any wicket. After this, Sophie Devine played a fast innings and scored 57* runs and remained unbeaten. For Team India, Renuka Singh took two wickets, while Arundhati Reddy and Asha Shobhana got one wicket each. Along with the bowling, the fielding of Team India was also disappointing, which made the match more difficult.