Ahmedabad | Middle-order batter Brooke Halliday struck a 96-ball 86 and lifted New Zealand from a precarious 88/5 to 232 all out against India in the series-deciding third women's ODI here on Tuesday.
To start with, the Indian bowlers fired in unison and had the visitors in all sorts to trouble with their disciplined line and length.
Looking to win the series and regain some lost ground after their early exit in the recent T20 World Cup, India began the match in earnest and struck twice to leave the Kiwis at 25 for two in 7.1 overs.
Jemimah Rodrigues and wicket-keeper Yastika Bhatia combined to run out Suzie Bates while Lauren Down was jettisoned by Saima Thakor at the start of eighth over.
Introduced in the 11th over, young leg-spinner Priya Mishra (2/41 in 10 overs) gave India a major breakthrough when she bowled New Zealand captain Sophie Devine (9 off 11 balls), leaving the visitors in a spot of bother 36 for three.
New Zealand's hopes of putting up a competitive score rested on the shoulders of Georgia Plimmer, who dropped anchor considering the situation her team found itself in.
However, having ambled to 39, Plimmer was dismissed by Mishra, and her innings lasted 67 balls. Maddy Green was run out for a 15-ball 19 as New Zealand slipped to 88 for five in the 24th over.
In search for a partnership, the Kiwis finally found it as the duo of Halliday and wicketkeeper batter Isabella Gaze (25 off 49 balls) added 64 runs for the sixth wicket to steady the innings
Scoreboard of the third and final women's One-Day International (ODI) between India and New Zealand here on Tuesday.
New Zealand innings:
Suzie Bates run out 4
Georgia Plimmer c Sharma b Priya Mishra 39 Lauren Down c Bhatia b Thakor 1
Sophie Devine b Priya Mishra 9
Brooke Halliday c Yadav b Sharma 86
Maddy Green run out 15
Isabella Gaze c & b Sharma 25
Hannah Rowe lbw b Sharma 11
Lea Tahuhu not out 24
Eden Carson c Yadav b Renuka Singh 2
Fran Jonas run out 2
Extras: (LB-4, NB-1, W-9) 14
Total: (All out in 49.5 overs) 232
Fall of wickets: 1-24, 2-25, 3-36, 4-66, 5-88, 6-152, 7-199, 8-210, 9-219, 10-232.
Bowling: Renuka Singh 10-1-49-1, Saima Thakor 9.5-1-44-1, Priya Mishra 10-1-41-2, Deepti Sharma 10-2-39-3, Radha Yadav 4-0-21-0, Harmanpreet Kaur 6-0-34-0.