New Zealand opened their account in the ongoing ICC Women’s World Cup 2025 by defeating Bangladesh by 100 runs at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Friday (October 10).
The team led by Sophie Devine got this win after two consecutive defeats. They started their campaign with defeats against Australia and South Africa before defeating Bangladesh. With one win from three matches, New Zealand is currently placed fifth in the points table.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, has slipped to sixth place in the points table after its second consecutive defeat. They started their campaign with an impressive 7-wicket win over Pakistan before losing to England and New Zealand.
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Sophie Devine Invincible
Batting first, New Zealand suffered another batting collapse and then recovered to post a competitive score of 227/9 in the allotted 50 overs. Suzie Bates and Georgia Plimmer started well and added 35 runs for the first wicket, before New Zealand lost three wickets in 17 balls and the score was 38–3 after 11 overs.
Devine and Brooke Holiday then steered the ship with a patient partnership. They added 112 runs for the fourth wicket before Halliday was dismissed by Fahima Khatoon. The New Zealand batsman was out after scoring 69 runs in 104 balls.
After Brook’s dismissal, Devine also could not last long and his next wicket fell at 63 runs. This was the New Zealand captain’s third consecutive score of more than 50 in the ongoing tournament.
New Zealand scored over 220 by scoring 74 runs in the last 10 overs. Rabeya Khan impressed with the ball for Bangladesh, taking 3 wickets for 30 runs.
Bangladesh faltered in chase against New Zealand:
Although Bangladesh performed well with the ball, they could not match that effort with the bat. It did not take long for New Zealand to end Bangladesh’s hopes of winning the match. None of Bangladesh’s top five batsmen could even reach the 5-run mark and their team was reduced to 33/6 after 14 overs.
Even the 100-run mark seemed like a distant dream at that time, before Fahima Khatoon’s 34-run knock brought some respectability to the total. In the end Bangladesh was all out for 127 runs. Nahida Akhtar (17) and Rabeya Khan (25) also played good innings to help their team cross the 100-run mark.
For New Zealand, Jess Kerr and Lee Tahuhu took three wickets each, while Rosemary Mayer took two wickets.
New Zealand vs Sri Lanka Brief Score:
New Zealand 227-9 (50 overs): Brooke Holliday 69 (104); Rabeya Khan 3-30
Bangladesh 127 (39.5 overs): Fahima Khatoon 34 (80); Jess Kerr 3-21
New Zealand won by 100 runs
