New Zealand women's cricket team captain Maia Lewis said she is confident about her team doing well in the first One-Day International against India at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
The talented batswoman told reporters after the net practice on Wednesday her team is performing up to expectations though the only Test match on their 25-day tour ended in a draw at Vapi in Gujarat on Sunday.
"Being the world champions in one-day cricket and after getting used to the Indian conditions I am confident that we will do well in the next five matches," Lewis said.
"Our players have struck form at the right time and I am looking forward to a good one-day series," she added.
Indian captian Mamatha Maben said the homeside is looking forward to the one-day matches though she admitted it would be a tough task to beat the Kiwis.
"We will give our best shot and we know that the visitors have a well balanced one-day side with a good number of all-rounders in the squad. But I am sure we can run them close if we play according to our plans," she said.
"We have some good spinners in Neetu David, Deepa Kulkarni, Nooshin-Al-Khadeer and Diana David and our batting too looks quite solid. So it should be a closely contested series," the Indian skipper said.
The teams:
New Zealand: Maia Lewis (capt), Nicola Browne, Anna Corbin, Maria Fahey, Amanda Green, Michelle Lynch, Sara McGlashan, Aimee Mason, Katey Martin, Louise Milliken, Kate Pulford, Natalee Scripps, Rebecca Steele and Haidee Tiffen.
India: Mamatha Maben (capt), Mithali Raj, Anju Jain, Jaya Sharma, Hemlata Kala, Neetu David, Anjum Chopra, Deepa Kulkarni, Jhulan Goswami, Amita Sharma, Arundhati Kirkire, Sunetra Paranjpee, Karuna Jain, Nooshin-Al-Khadeer, Babusha Singh, Diana David and Beas Sarkar.
Umpires: Suresh Shastri and B A Jamula.
