Lauren Down's unbeaten half-century powers New Zealand to a series win

In a match filled with plenty of ebbs and flows, the White Ferns edged past India in a nail-biting thriller by three wickets to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. 

Chasing a mammoth 280, the home team were propelled by half-centuries from Amy Satterthwaite, Amelia Kerr and Lauren Down to register a hard-fought win. The victory also resulted in the team carving their name in the record books by recording the second-highest successful run chase in the history of the women's game. 

Earlier in the day, after being asked to bat first, the opening combination of Shafali Verma and S Meghana started the innings in a commanding fashion by forging a 100-run partnership for the first wicket. In only her third ODI, Meghana was the aggressor of the two as she notched up her maiden half-century in 33 deliveries to lay a solid foundation for the visiting side before being dismissed off a short delivery. 

Despite the stutter, Shafali continued to take the attack to the opposition bowling unit to smash her second half-century before being brilliantly caught by Suzie Bates for a well-compiled 51. 

With the team comfortably placed at 131 for the loss of two wickets, the onus of the side relied heavily on Yastika Bhatia, Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur to take them to a formidable first-innings total.

However, the trio failed to get going, resulting in the Indian team conceding the advantage and reeling at 187 for 5. While Mithali was undone by a beauty from Hannah Rowe, vice-captain Harmanpreet endured yet another failure as she was run out in a bizarre fashion. 

Despite a flurry of wickets in the middle overs, Deepti Sharma held one end up and crafted her way to a sublime 69 to power India to 279. Displaying an array of strokes all around the ground, the southpaw smashed an unbeaten half-century studded with seven boundaries and one six to guide the team to a huge first-innings total. 

In pursuit of 280, the White Ferns got off to a horrendous start as they lost their experienced openers, Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine, courtesy of twin strikes from Jhulan Goswami. With the score reading 14 for 2, Amelia Kerr and Amy Satterthwaite joined forced to stitch a valuable 103-run stand for the third wicket. 

En route to this partnership, the duo notched up half-centuries to keep the New Zealand side well on course in this run chase. Goswami was introduced back in the attack to break this crucial stand, and the veteran seamer did precisely that as she scalped the wicket of Satterthwaite to help India crawl their way back in the game. 

With the White Ferns losing wickets at regular intervals in the middle overs, it was down on the shoulders of Lauren Down and Katey Martin to get the team over the line. 

The duo steadied the innings and got the equation down to 91 off the last 13 overs, with Martin and Down accumulating the ones and the twos to keep the scoreboard ticking. 

While they looked set to take the team through to a win, Deepti Sharma picked up the wicket of Martin to halt the 76-run stand and help the Women in Blue bounce back in the game. Down smashed her second ODI half-century to power the side through in a tense run chase. 

The 26-year old smashed an unbeaten 64 off 52 deliveries at a strike rate of 123.07, with six boundaries and two massive hits over the fence to seal the game and the series with five balls to spare. 

While the White Ferns produced a masterclass to clinch the series, the Women in Blue will have plenty to ponder in the next couple of days. The visiting side will hope for the return of Smriti Mandhana and Meghana Singh in the playing XI to bolster the team when they lock horns for the fourth ODI on Friday, 22nd February at the same venue.