Spurred by an attractive 60 off 89 balls by opener Jaya Sharma, India upset world champions New Zealand by five wickets in the first women's One-Day International at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Thursday.
After the visitors made 191 for six in the stipulated 50 overs, the Indians romped home in the 49th over.
The visitors won the toss and elected to bat on an easy paced wicket. Despite useful contributions from Kate Pulford (31 off 60 balls 2x4), Haidee Tiffen (57 off 84 balls, 4x4) and left-hander Aimee Mason (34 off 35 balls, 5x4) they could score 191 for six.
The Kiwis were in real trouble, losing four wickets for 96 runs in 35 overs before Haidee and Aimee added 73 runs for the fifth wicket in just 12.3 overs to stage a recovery.
India skipper Mamatha Maben took two for 38 off her ten overs.
Beginning their chase, the hosts were given a flying start by openers Anju Jain (26 off 42 balls) and Jaya Sharma, who put on 49 runs for the first wicket.
After Anju Jain's dismissal in the 14th over, Jaya Sharma found an able ally in left-hander Anjum Chopra (19 off 45 balls) and the two put on 55 runs for the second wicket off 13.3 overs to set the team on course for victory.
Though the home side lost four more wickets, they reached the target with 11 balls to spare.
Scoreboard
New Zealand:
M Fahey lbw A Sharma 0
K Pulford run out 31
S McGlashan c Chopra b Khadeer 14
H Tiffen b M Maben 57
M Lewis c H Kala b N David 15
A Mason c Khadeer b M Maben 34
K Martin not out 8
A Corbin not out 9
Extras: (lb-11, w-12) 23
Total: (for 6 wkts off 50 overs) 191
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-37, 3-64, 4-96, 5-169, 6-173.
Bowling: A Sharma 5-1-13-1, A Chopra 4-0-13-0, N A Khadeer 10-2-34-1, M Maben 10-1-38-2, N David 10-1-31-1, D Kulkarni 10-1-44-0, H Kala 1-0-7-0.
India:
A Jain c K Polford b A Mason 26
J Sharma c Lewis b A Green 60
A Chopra c Martin b R Steele 19
M Raj c A Green b A Mason 32
H Kala b K Pulford 6
M Maben (not out) 20
A Kirkire (not out) 18
Extras: (lb-1, nb-3, w-8) 12
Total: (for 5 wkts off 48.1 overs) 193
Fall of wickets: 1-49, 2-104, 3-118, 4-138, 5-168.
Bowling: N Scripps 8.1-1-50-0, A Corbin 4-1-22-0, R Steele 10-1-30-1, A Green 9-1-28-1, A Mason 10-0-30-2, K Pulford 7-0-32-1.
