India women are all set to take on New Zealand women in the third ODI of the five-match series at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on 3 July.
New Zealand have drawn level in the series after beating India in a close encounter by three wickets in the second ODI. On the other hand, the latter also had won a low-scoring thriller when they defeated the visitors by 17 runs in the first ODI. Both the teams would look to go 2-1 up in the series after the upcoming match on Friday.
New Zealand faced some nervy situations during their run chase in the second ODI. Earlier on the same day, they had successfully restricted the women-in-blue to a modest total of 163. Thirush Kamini top-scored with 61 runs under her belt and Harmanpreet Kaur scored 31. Apart from these two players, none others could make an impact on the game while batting.
Later, when New Zealand came out to bat, they lost their opener Suzie Bates early in the innings. Rachel Priest and Amy Satterthwaite stabilised their innings, but Rajeshwari picked up two wickets in two deliveries in the 12th over reducing Kiwis to 46 for the loss of three wickets. Satterthwaite was soon dismissed by a brilliant direct hit from Mithali Raj and the visitors were reeling at 68 for the loss of four wickets.
Then it was Katie Perkins and Sophie Devine, who batted responsibly and pushed the score past the 100-run mark. But both were dismissed in quick succession by Ekta Bisht. Jhulan Goswami too picked up another wicket after these two departed and all of a sudden New Zealand were reeling at 132 with a loss of seven wickets.
India had clinched a brilliant victory from a similar situation in the first ODI, but they failed to do so in the second match. Leigh Kasperek and Anna Peterson guided New Zealand to victory.
One can expect that the third ODI will also be an entertaining match. There are no signs of injuries in either sides, so both the teams are likey to go with the same squad. The weather report says that there are slight chances of rain, but that is not going to affect the match. If India manage to win this match, they will qualify for the ICC Women's World Cup in 2017.
Expected Line-ups:
India Women: Mandhana, Thirush Kamini, Mithali Raj (C), Punam Raut, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jhulan Goswami, Sikha Pandey, Sneh Rana, Ekta Bisht, R Kalpana, Rajeshwari.
New Zealand Women: Suzie Bates (C), Rachel Priest, Maddy Green, Amy Satterthwaite, Sophie Devine, Katie Perkins, Leigh Kasperek, kate Broadmore, Anna Peterson, Morna Nielsen, Lea Tahuhu.
Where to watch live:
The third ODI between India Women and New Zealand Women is scheduled for 9am IST (3:30am GMT, 3:30pm NZ time) with live coverage in India on Star Sports 2 and Star Sports HD 2. Live Streaming option for this match is not available in India.
Viewers in New Zealand can catch it live on Sky Sport 1 and stream the same in SkyGO.
