Run-out incident probably broke India's momentum: NZ captain Sophie Devine

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine felt that India lost their momentum after the run-out incident involving Amelia Kerr. In the 14th over, the umpires ruled it a dead ball after Kerr was run-out trying to sneak in a second run.

In Short

• India lost to New Zealand in their opener of T20 World Cup
• Amelia Kerr was controversially given not out
• Sophie Devine felt India lost momentum after that decision

New Zealand captain Sophie Devine said that India probably lost momentum after the Amelia Kerr run-out incident in their opener of the Women's T20 World Cup 2024. India faced a heavy defeat to New Zealand in their first match of the tournament, losing by 58 runs.

The incident in question came in the final ball of the 14th over, when Kerr tried to sneak in a second run. Harmanpreet Kaur, who had the ball in her hand at long-off, threw it to the keeper's end, who in turn dismantled the stumps before Kerr completed her run.

In a massive relief for Kerr, the umpire called it a dead ball and ruled her not out. The explanation given by the umpires was that they had already called the over before the attempt for the second run began.

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Harmanpreet Kaur was left fuming after the decision, while coach Amol Mazumdar was also seen having an animated chat with the fourth umpire. Devine believed that this is where India lost their bearings in the match.

"I guess my understanding of it is when the umpire calls over and I never heard the umpire call over but obviously that's up to the umpire's discretion in terms of when they think the ball's dead so - yeah it was an interesting one probably broke a little bit of momentum and maybe stalled them a little bit but I think again that's part of cricket isn't it, people's interpretations always going to be slightly different. For us, trying to pinch runs here and there, you never know when that one run might count but yeah look trust the umpires and obviously they made the call at the end of the day, that's their job, it's not really any of my business, they're the ones that have to apply, I just sort of sometimes push the boundaries a little bit with it," Sophie Devine said in the post-match press conference.

Devine credited her batters for an aggressive show against India where they were able to set the tone and then dictate terms with the ball.

"I thought the way we batted I thought the foundation that was laid by Susie and Georgia was outstanding and got us ahead of the game early. So, I think that probably did lay the platform for us. And to be able to get a total that we thought was probably 10 - 15 runs over par meant that we could be really attacking with our bowling. Simple but effective and I thought, yeah, every bowler today did their role perfectly well. So, hard to pick the two. I think bowlers always get forgotten about, don't they? So, I should say that the bowlers did a fantastic job today," Devine said about New Zealand's approach.

New Zealand snapped a 10-match losing streak with a win against India and are now primed to enter the semi-final stage of the tournament. However, they still have three matches left in the group stage, including an all-important clash against their trans-Tasman rivals Australia.