For the third time in the series, India batted first and for the second time running, New Zealand chased the target successfully. While India could not improve their batting performance, New Zealand ensured that they would not be bogged down by a sub-200 score. Skipper Suzie Bates led from front; first by taking a wicket giving away just 20 runs in the 6 overs that she bowled and then with Rachel Priest gave a solid 125 run start to her team. Every New Zealand woman contributed with the bat and they overhauled the victory target of 183 in the 46th over. After losing the first ODI, New Zealand have now won the next two to take a 2-1 lead in the 5-match ODI series.
India won the toss once again and batted first. But they couldn’t learn from their batting mistakes in the first two matches. Second ODI’s top scorer, Thirush Kamini could not repeat her performance and fell prey to an away-going ball from Sophie Devine as she edged to the gully fielder. Smiriti Mandhana also lost her wicket, when she holed out to midwicket on an attempted pull off Sophie Devine. With two wickets gone for 29 in the 8th over, Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur tried to repair the damage. However, a piece of misfortune struck India, when Kaur was brilliantly run out by Katie Perkins. Kaur had flicked a ball from Leigh Kasperek to the leg side and set off for a single but Raj didn’t respond. As Kaur turned back to make her ground, Perkins crashed the stumps by an accurate throw. 57/3 in the 22nd over was an uninspiring score and it became 78/4 in the 30th. But India had a likely savior in Veda Krishnamurthy, who found an able partner in Deepti Sharma. The two women resurrected India’s innings somewhat and together added 71 runs for the fifth wicket. But Deepti got out in the 46th over to a brilliant catch by Suzie Bates, when she tried to loft Kasperek over the straight field and Suzie covered quite a distance from mid-off to hold the ball. Ekta Bisht also got out in the next over to make it 151/6 for India. Kishnamurthy continued with Jhulan Goswami but Goswami left soon to leave India tottering at 162/7 in the 48th over. Kishnamurthy added another 18 runs with Nagarajan Niranjana. But both women fell as run out victims in the last over and India with their score of 182/9, managed to play out the entire 50 overs for the first time in the series.
When New Zealand came on to chase 183, they were determined not to succumb to such an easily achievable target. Their captain Suzie Bates opened with Rachel Priest and the two played without any risks or hurry since the asking rate was under 4 runs an over. They spaced out innings in putting up 125 runs by the 31st over. Like in the second ODI, Bates was bowled by Jhulan Goswami. The India seamer had earlier castled Bates, when the New Zealand skipper had scored just one run but the umpire had called a no-ball. 5 balls later Priest also departed at the same score of 125, when she tried to flick Harmanpreet Kaur and was declared LBW. With just 58 runs remaining for victory, New Zealand were not unduly bothered. Amy Satterthwaite and Maddie Green added 22 runs for the third wicket to narrow the target further, before Green got out. But Sophie Devine and Satterthwaite continued until the 46th over to level the scores before Green got out. Katie Perkins, who came next, struck a boundary off Deepti Sharma on arrival and New Zealand cruised to a deserved 6-wicket victory.
