Bates, Priest fifties secure New Zealand win

New Zealand Women 186 for 4 (Priest 64, Bates 59) beat India Women 182 for 9 (Krishnamurthy 63, Devine 3-40) by six wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

The intent of the New Zealand batsmen was clear this time. They were not going to falter in another sub-200 chase, they were not going to lose wickets in clumps, and they were not going to expose their lower order. The change in approach eased them to a comprehensive six-wicket win in the third ODI in Bangalore. Victory helped New Zealand to a 2-1 lead, taking them to the joint fourth position in the ICC Women's Championship, leaving India at the bottom again.

Openers Rachel Priest and Suzie Bates made sure the hard work put in by the bowlers and fielders to restrict India to 182 for 9 was rewarded this time, and not converted into another nervous chase. Fifties from both in a solid opening stand of 125 laid the platform after the match started in familiar fashion. India opted to bat, lost early wickets, and struggled to get the runs flowing as the batting revolved around only one batsman again - Veda Krishnamurthy, who came back after missing the second ODI. Her fifty helped India tug the score past 150 but it wasn't enough in favourable batting conditions.

Priest and Bates came out with a straightforward motive - get the runs from the beginning and don't lose wickets. After her 19-ball duck in the first ODI and falling to spinners in both matches, Priest got her confidence with consecutive fours off left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht in the second over. With her drives firm and approach aggressive, Bates was more circumspect to keep things under control. The run-rate dipped after the pair put on 28 in five overs, but they saw through Jhulan Goswami's first spell without a wicket and cruised to 50 in the 15th over. The stand would have ended in Goswami's second over itself had she not overstepped before Deepti Sharma took a sharp catch from Bates at first slip.

Priest asserted her presence further by bringing up her fifth ODI fifty with a six and New Zealand soon crossed 100, which pretty much sealed the chase. However, Goswami broke the stand, having Bates playing on for 59, and Priest was trapped lbw in the next over. But New Zealand needed another 58 at just over three per over and Maddie Green, Amy Satterthwaite and Sophie Devine made sure there were no more stutters.

India could not shrug off their batting woes as even full tosses and half-trackers were not put away in gaps. The final charge came after India had crawled to 94 for 4 in 38 overs and Krishnamurhty's second ODI fifty took them to their highest score of the series, with 39 off her last 33 balls.

Openers Smriti Mandhana and Thirush Kamini gave catches off Devine, who bowled a frugal first spell of 6-1-16-2, which was complemented by a stellar display of fielding. Katie Perkins first dived forward at midwicket for Mandhana's wicket and then had Harmanpreet Kaur run out with a flying direct hit after Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet had put on 28 runs in nearly 14 overs. Later in the innings, Bates took a spectacular catch running backwards from mid-off and Anna Peterson leaped for one when Goswami smashed the ball to cover.

Raj was caught behind as soon as Devine came back for her next spell, for 30. She had started with two consecutive fours and looked determined for a longer stay this time but with five fours in the bag after facing 70 balls, rotating the strike continued to be a problem as Bates persisted with her packed off-side field and Morna Nielsen dried the runs up with three maidens. Krishnamurthy then took over along with Deepti Sharma.

With a cautious start she first made sure India were not all out for the fifth time in a row, batting first. Deepti also took her time, scoring six from her first 32 balls, and they started opening up in the Powerplay. Krishnamurthy used her feet effectively against the spinners, unleashing drives off the front foot and cuts off the back foot. The glut of runs started in the 42nd over and Krishnamurthy struck two fours, collecting 16 in all off Devine to take the run rate over three.

From there the two batsmen found gaps, avoided dot balls and took the partnership to 71 for the fifth wicket, nearly taking the score to 150, before Bates caught Deepti off Leigh Kasperek. A six from Goswami, and two fours from Nagarajan Niranjana in the last over made sure the run rate didn't fall even though two batsmen were run out in the last over, but India did run out of options to curb the New Zealand batsmen eventually.