Stand-in captain Smriti Mandhana hailed the team’s bowling and fielding as India bounced back from a "tough" phase to beat New Zealand in the first ODI of the three-match series in Ahmedabad on Thursday.
India's women's T20 World Cup campaign earlier this month ended in disaster as they failed to reach the semi-finals following a 58-run defeat to Sophie Devine's New Zealand, who went on to win the tournament.
However, this time, Devine's side fell short of chasing a modest 228, losing to India by 59 runs in the ODI series opener.
"It's been a tough 1.5 to 2 months, so it feels good to start with a win. If you don't believe in cricket, you won't succeed," said Mandhana, who captained the team in place of Harmanpreet Kaur, during the post-match presentation.
Harmanpreet was rested for the game because of an unspecified niggle.
India’s batters could not convert their starts and kept losing wickets at regular intervals as they were bowled out for an under-par 227 in 44.3 overs.
"We had a talk that we were under-par but if we field well, we could add 20-30 runs. Saima set the tone for us with Suzie's wicket," said Smriti, of the debutant seamer who bagged two wickets for 26 runs.
“She (Saima Thakor) has been around with us (for the past couple of months). She has been brilliant throughout and we have seen her work really hard. Really happy for her and hope this is just the start for her," she added.
Saima said: "I have been very patient; the team is amazing. That is the secret. It was a flat wicket, honestly. It was a batter's paradise, but we did really well as a bowling group and luckily, it (the result) came into our favour."
T20 World Cup-winning NZ captain Devine was run-out for two in bizarre fashion after stepping down the track and tapping the ball back to the bowler.
Bowler Deepti Sharma quickly threw it to wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia, who removed the bails with Devine's foot just outside the crease. The TV umpire confirmed the dismissal, giving India a key breakthrough and leaving New Zealand reeling at 46 for 3.
"I thought she was outside her crease, so I felt throwing it (to Yastika) was a good option," said player-of-the-match Deepti, who hit a 51-ball 41 and returned with 1 for 35 from nine overs.
