IND W vs NZ W: New Zealand beat India by 3 wickets; clinch ODI series

India came up with their highest WODI total of the ongoing series against New Zealand but still lost the third of the fivematch rubber by three wickets thanks to Lauren Down who smashed an unbeaten 64 at the John Davies Oval here on FridayWith this win New Zealand Women have taken an unassailable 30 lead in the fivematch series and will be going into next months ICC Womens World Cup full of confidenceThree fine halfcenturies from Indian batters saw the tourists amass 279 in 493 overs but the hosts were equally impressive and managed to overhaul the target with five balls to spareRequiring 128 from inside 20 overs Down compiled a 52ball unbeaten 64 smashing a six from the first ball of the last over to seal the victory with five deliveries to spare Down was assisted by Katey Martin 35 and Frankie McKay 17 not out from 12 balls recovering from 1716 to complete the unlikely chaseIt was New Zealands highest successful chase in Womens ODI history and secondhighest overallEarlier New Zealands reply to Indias 279 was brought to a crashing halt after the loss of Amy Satterthwaite 59 and Amelia Kerr 67 who put on 103 for the third wicket recovering from the loss of Sophie Devine 0 and Suzie Bates 5Despite Jhulan Goswami continuing to bowl with the worldclass quality shown in last years tour of Australia in claiming 347 Down stood her groundEarlier India made an amazing start with the bat after losing the toss racing to 860 at the 10over mark thanks largely to Sabbhineni Meghana 61 off 41 deliveries who registered her first ODI fifty in just 33 balls Falling one short of reaching her first fifty earlier in the series Meghana hit nine fours and two sixes in her 61Meghana was accompanied by Shafali Verma who compiled 51 off 57 deliveries though the White Ferns pulled back their opposition through both incisive bowling and professional fielding effort in the middle oversRosemary Mair 243 off 10 overs troubled India in the middle overs putting the skids on the freescoring from their opening pairMair and Hannah Rowe 252 combined in the middle overs to remove Yastika Bhatia 19 and Mithali Raj 23 respectively with the smart work of Frankie Mackay bringing the downfall of Harmanpreet Kaur 13 catching the righthander out of her ground with a quick return throwBut Deepti Sharma 69 not out resurrected the innings played with a mix of power and patience to help the visitors post an imposing totalSharma hit seven boundaries and a six in her runaball knock with Sneh Rana the only player at No7 or below to reach double figuresNew Zealands chase kept taking blows throughout the innings though Down kept her calm She put on 76 with Katey Martin and 33 with Frances Mackay as the hosts finally managed to secure the seriesThe fourth ODI of the series will be played on February 22Brief scores India Women 279 in 493 overs Sabbhineni Meghana 61 Shafali Verma 51 Deepti Sharma 69 not out Hannah Rowe 252 lost to New Zealand Women 2807 in 491 overs Amelia Kerr 67 Amy Satterthwaite 59 Lauren Down 64 not out Jhulan Goswami 347 by three wicketsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever