India claim Amelia Kerr to pay the White Fern charge

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The White Ferns have moved to 136/3 at the halfway mark with Maddy Green joining Amy Satterthwaite.

Kerr fell lbw to Rajashwari Gayakwad on the Sweep, just Moments after registering her half-century. It ended in a partnership of 67 from as many balls with Satterthwaite, pushing the score along with an astute mix of singles and boundaries.

New Zealand made 51/1 in the Powerplay, though the hard work of Kerr and Sophie Devine was brought undone by the loss of the Skipper in the 11th over.

Pooja Vastrakar, who earlier ran out Suzie Bates with a direct hit, found Devine’s edge with Richa Ghosh making a smart catch behind the stumps.

Brought in by India for today’s match, Yastika Bhatia was perhaps the happiest of the Indian playing group with the wicket after she dropped a tough chance of Devine in the previous over, diving forward with the opener on 32.

Earlier, Vastrakar caught Bates unawares with a smart pick-up and throw; the second time in three innings Bates has been caught short of her ground at the tournament.

Kerr joined Devine early and was circumspect in her start, though jumpstarted her innings with consecutive boundaries off Deepti Sharma.

Expecting dew in the evening, Raj elected to the Bowl after winning the toss, with the Seddon Park surface also tipped to spin today.

India made one change with Mithali Raj’s side selecting Bhatia in favor of the struggling Shafali Verma.

The left-hander made runs in the warm-up matches leading into the tournament, though was squeezed out of India’s side for their tournament opener by a dearth of Talent.

The teams are familiar foes, having played a five-match ODI series last month as part of their World Cup preparation.

The hosts claimed a 4-1 series win that featured some sparkling individual performances, now notably the consistency of Amelia Kerr, who rocketed up the MRF Tires ODI Player Rankings.