Team India sans-regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur, showed remarkable resilience, especially with the ball to defend a modest score of 227 despite the White Ferns' superstar Amelia Kerr making a fight out of it. It's a shame that she will be unable to take any further part in the series and her injury was one of the turning points in the series opener in Ahmedabad but Saima Thakor and Deepti Sharma-led Indian bowling attack too deserves credit to be able to eke out a win without having an assurance of a big total on the board.
New Zealand will have a huge challenge to first counter Kerr's absence because a player like her is second to none and with the middle-order collapse that took place, it will be interesting to see how Sophie Devine and Co fare with a pressure to level the series. Harmanpreet had a niggle but the captain is expected to return to the side in the second ODI as India look to seal the series on Sunday itself.
The batting remains a concern for India as apart from a couple of contributions, there was nothing much and they need to fire collectively as a unit to be able to challenge strong teams. Also, since there is an ODI World Cup round the corner at home, India will hope to iron out chinks in the armour and identify most of the players that will be in the 15 for the main event, next year.
My Dream11 team for IND-W vs NZ-W 2nd ODI
Smriti Mandhana, Georgia Plimmer, Yastika Bhatia, Brooke Halliday, Sophie Devine, Polly Inglis, Jemimah Rodrigues (vc), Molly Penfold, Deepti Sharma, Saima Thakor, Eden Carson (c)
Probable Playing XIs
India Women: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana(c), Yastika Bhatia(w), Harmanpreet Kaur/Dayalan Hemalatha, Jemimah Rodrigues, Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Saima Thakor, Renuka Thakur Singh,
New Zealand Women: Suzie Bates, Georgia Plimmer, Lauren Down, Sophie Devine(c), Polly Inglis/Fran Jonas Brooke Halliday, Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze(w), Jess Kerr, Molly Penfold, Eden Carson
