New Zealand defeated India by three wickets in the third ODI at John Davies Oval in Queenstown to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. They chased down 280 in 49.1 overs, thanks to fifties from Lauren Down, Amelia Kerr, and Amy Satterthwaite.
Jhulan Goswami bowled Suzie Bates and trapped Sophie Devine leg-before inside three overs, but Amelia and Satterthwaite led the recovery, adding 103 for the third wicket. Amelia scored 67, and Satterthwaite made 59 before being dismissed by Goswami. Lea Tahuhu's dismissal in the 35th over reduced New Zealand to 171/6.
But Down scored an unbeaten 64, forging crucial stands with Katey Martin (35) and Francis Mackay (17*), to drive New Zealand home. Barring Goswami (3-47), the Indian attack did not pose much threat.
Earlier, S. Meghana and Shafali Verma got India off to a solid start, adding 100 for the opening stand. Meghana was at her fluent best, hitting boundaries off both the first and last balls of the first over. In the fourth over, bowled by Hannah Rowe, she struck successive fours and a six.
She fell to Rosemary Mair for 61, while Verma (51) got out soon after completing after fifty. The middle order failed to capitalise, and India were soon reduced to 187/5. Mithali Raj got 23, Harmanpreet Kaur 13, and Yastika Bhatia 19. Deepti Sharma then scored an unbeaten 69 to lift India to 279.
Brief Scores: India 279/10 in 49.3 overs (Deepti Sharma 69*; Rosemary Mair 2-43) lost to New Zealand 280/7 in 49.1 overs (Amelia Kerr 67; Jhulan Goswami 3-47) by 3 wickets with 5 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Lauren Down