Spin-bowling allrounder Amelia Kerr cwas replaced by left-arm spinner Fran Jonas. She was ruled out of the remaining two matches of the series and most of the upcoming WBBL due to a left quadricep muscle tear.
In addition right-arm pacer Lea Tahuhu come in place of Molly Penfold, in what was a like-for-like swap. Penfold bowled five overs in the first ODI, and went wicketless while going for 28 runs. But she struggled with cramps in the first game.
On the other side, the hosts had their regular captain Harmanpreet Kaur back into the side after she was rested for the first ODI due to a niggle. Harmanpreet replaced D Hemalatha in India’s line-up. The hosts also had a debutant in legspinner Priya Mishra, who took the place of Renuka Singh Thakur as India also made two changes to their side.
India lead the three-match series 1-0 after a 59-run win in the first ODI. New Zealand, meanwhile, need to win the second game not only to keep the series alive, but also to bag crucial points in the Women s Championship. They are currently placed No. 6 there, with only the top five teams and India as hosts directly qualifying for next year’s World Cup.
India were clinical in the first ODI of the series, winning it by 59 runs. Notably, the visitors were the same opposition when India lost their first game of the Women’s T20 World Cup 2024 by 58 runs.
But for the remainder of the series, the White Ferns will be without the services of Amelia Kerr, who has contracted a grade-one quadriceps tear. The T20 World Cup 2024 champions would like to make a comeback in the second ODI to level the series and keep the third ODI at the same venue in contention. New Zealand’s batting could not keep up with the spin and running between the wickets.
India Squad: 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Shafali Verma, 3 Yastika Bhatia (wk), 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Jemimah Rodrigues, 6 Tejal Hasabnis, 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Radha Yadav, 9 Arundhati Reddy, 10 Saima Thakor, 11 Priya Mishra
New Zealand Squad: 1 Suzie Bates, 2 Georgia Plimmer, 3 Lauren Down, 4 Sophie Devine (capt), 5 Brooke Halliday, 6 Maddy Green, 7 Isabella Gaze, 8 Jess Kerr, 9 Lea Tahuhu, 10 Eden Carson, 11 Fran Jonas
