India Women lose thriller by 2 runs despite Mandhana's career-best, New Zealand sweep series

Chasing 162 for a win, star opening batswoman Smriti Mandhana took the Indian team on course for a consolation win with a career-best knock of 86 from 52 balls but the visiting side failed to build on her scintillating knock to end their innings at 159 for 4.

The Indian middle order once failed to close out the match after Smriti Mandhana’s dismissal as New Zealand Women edged past India Women in a thrilling contest to take sweep the series 3-0 at Hamilton.

It was almost an action replay of the previous T20I at Wellington. Set a target of 162, the Indian innings fell apart after the dismissal of Smriti Mandhana, who scored a career-best 86 off 52 balls and they ended up losing the match by 2 runs.

With the three-match series already lost after defeats in the first and second T20Is, India surprising named senior player Mithali Raj in the playing eleven and she contributed 24 not out from 20 balls after coming to bat at the fall of captain Harmanpreet Kaur (2).

But she failed to hit a four from the final delivery bowled by Leigh Kasperek as India lost the match by two runs.

India needed 16 runs from the final over and Raj and Deepti Sharma (21 not out) raised hopes of a remarkable win by hitting boundaries in the first and third deliveries but were left to hit a four off the last ball.

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur, whose indifferent form has hurt the team, said she was disappointed at the result and the 0-3 series defeat. India had won the three-match ODI series 2-1 before this T20 contest.

"We are disappointed to lose the series like this, we could have done better. We have a lot of work to do," she said after scoring just two on Sunday.

She had scored 17 and 5 in the first two matches.

"In T20 Internationals we need to make improvements in the final 10-over batting. More importantly, we need to sort out the batting order.

"But there are positives from this series like the batting of Smirti and Jemimah as well as the performance of bowlers," she added.

India lost Priya Punia (1) early but Mandhana and Rodirgues got them ahead of the required rate making full use of the powerplay. The due once again put on a solid partnership(47) to set the platform in the chase. Rodrigues (21) was dismissed in the 9^th over by Sophie Devine when the Indian right-hander tried to go for the big shot.

But after that, India could not force the pace of scoring and with captain Kaur failing to make a mark, the asking rate kept on climbing.   

When Mandhana was out in the 16th over, India needed 39 from 4.3 overs which was not an easy job. Raj and Deepti could not get too many boundaries and they were left with 16 to win from the final over.

Electing to bat, New Zealand looked set to post a much bigger total by reaching 80 for 2 at the halfway stage but India came back strongly to force a batting collapse as the home side finally ended their innings at 161 for 7.

Hard-hitting opener Sophie Devine top-scored with a sparkling 52-ball 72 which was laced with eight boundaries and two sixes while captain Amy Satterthwaite contributed 31 from 23 deliveries.

The duo's 71-run stand for the third wicket from exactly eight overs was the highlight of the New Zealand innings. The other opener Suzie Bates (24) and one-down Hannah Rowe (12) were the other batswomen who reached to doube-digit figures.

Devine dominated against all the Indian bowlers, especially against leg-spinner Poonam Yadav whom she hoisted for two big sixes during her onslaught.

But once Devine was dismissed in the 17th over, New Zealand suffered a batting collapse, scoring just 21 runs from the remaining 3.2 overs. From 140 for 2 in the 17th over, New Zealand ended their innings at 161 for 7.

The Indians got a wicket each in the 18th and 19th overs and two from the final over to made a remarkable come back in the final five overs from which they conceded just 34 runs.

Off-spinner Deepti Sharma grabbed two wickets for 28 runs while Poonam Yadav, Mansi Joshi, Radha Yadav and Arundhati Reddy took a wicket apiece