Smriti Mandhana ton powers India to WODI series win over NZ

New Delhi: Smriti Mandhana cracked her fourth ODI century of the year as India won the series decider against New Zealand by six wickets to take the three-match ODI series 2-1, in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

Mandhana batted with typical grace after getting out cheaply in the first two ODIs – she scored 5 and 0 – and brought up the eighth ODI hundred of her career off 121 balls, going past former skipper Mithali Raj as the leading centurion for India in the 50-over format.

Chasing 232 under lights, the hosts lost Shafali Verma early but Mandhana and Yastika Bhatia dug in for 76 runs to steady the innings. Bhatia fell for 35 but Mandhana shifted gears with effortless ease to keep the chase on track.

The 28-year-old struck 10 fours and stitched a 117-run partnership for the third wicket with skipper Harmampreet Kaur, who scored a breezy unbeaten 63-ball 59. India’s two most accomplished batters ended the Kiwi resistance, collecting boundaries at will.

Mandhana was bowled by Hannah Rowe soon after reaching her century, but Jemimah Rodrigues hit an 18-ball 22 to all but seal the issue. She fell leg before to Fran Jonas with the scores tied but Kaur drove her opposite number Sophie Devine through covers as India won with more than five overs to spare.

Asked to bat first with the series locked 1-1, New Zealand lost Suzie Bates, Lauren Down and skipper Devine with only 36 on board. Leg-spinner Priya Mishra did the early damage, removing Devine and later Georgia Plimmer (39). Left-hander Brooke Halliday played a lone hand, top-scoring with a 96-ball 86.

Maddy Green, Isabella Gaze and Rowe got starts too but none could kick on. The Kiwi innings got some late impetus from Lea Tahuhu’s 14-ball 24*, but the total was never going to challenge the Indian line-up. Off-spinner Deepti Sharma picked up three wickets to go with Mishra’s two scalps while medium pacers Renuka Singh and Saima Thakor took one wicket each.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 232 in 49.5 overs (Brooke Halliday 86; Deepti Sharma 3/39); India 236/4 in 44.2 overs (Smriti Mandhana 100, Harmanpreet Kaur 59*; Hannah Rowe 2/47). India won by 6 wickets.