New Zealand women beat India by 8 wickets to earn a consolation win
New Zealand women produced a dominating performance in the 3rd One day international as they upstaged India by 8 wickets at Seddon Park, Hamilton, on Friday. It was a great performance by the White ferns, who bowled India out for a low total and then chased down the target with ease.
New Zealand captain Amy Satterthwaite won the toss and decided to field first. India's talisman, Smriti Mandhana fell cheaply for one run. Jemimah Rodrigues failed to contribute too, as she was dismissed for a meager 12 runs. India were on 27 for 2 at the end of 10 overs. After the first 10 overs, Mithali Raj made an attempt to hit a big shot and was dismissed for 9 off 28 balls.
Deepti Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur steadied the innings with a solid 48-run stand for the 4th wicket. Anna Peterson deceived Kaur when she was looking set at 24. Dayalan Hemalatha and Deepti Sharma only managed to add 30 runs for the 5th wicket as wickets kept tumbling for the visitors.
Deepti Sharma reached her 50 from 84 balls. India kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for 149 in 44 overs. For New Zealand, Anna Peterson took 4 for 28 while Lea Tahuhu finished with 3 for 26.
Chasing the target of 150 runs to win, Suzie Bates and Lauren Down got the team off to a steady start adding 22 runs, before Down was run out. New Zealand played with positive intent and scored 39 for 1 at end of 10 overs. After the first 10 overs, Captain Amy Satterthwaite and Suzie Bates showed their class and made the batting look easy. Suzie Bates dominated for large spells and consequentially, reached her half century in just 60 balls. Poonam Yadav dismissed Bates for 57, but by then, it was too little too late for the Women in Blue. Captain Satterthwaite reached her 50 in 61 balls and remained not out on 66. New Zealand won the match by 8 wickets with 124 balls to spare.
Nevertheless, India registered their maiden ODI series win on New Zealand soil. Smriti Mandhana was named as player of the series for her superb performances in first two ODI matches.