A brilliant century from Smriti Mandhana steered India to victory in the series-deciding third ODI against New Zealand in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. With the 6-wicket win, India bagged the three-match series 2-1.
New Zealand set India a target of 233 with Brooke Halliday top scoring with 86 runs. After the failed chase in the second ODI, the hosts were determined to get it done this time and it was Team India's leaders Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti, who shouldered the responsibility.
Smriti played a brilliant 100 off 122, her eighth century in ODIs, while skipper Harmanpreet remained unbeaten on 70 off 68. Yastika Bhatia made 35.
For the decider, India made one change with Renuka Singh coming in for Arundhati Reddy while off-spinner Shreyanka Patil was unavailable due to an injury. India had won the first ODI by 59 runs but the visitors, freshly-crowned T20 champions, drew parity with a 76-run win in the second match.
Brief scores: New Zealand 232 in 49.5 overs (Brooke Halliday 86, Georgia Plimmer 39, Isabella Gaze 25, Deepti Sharma 3/39, Priya Mishra 2/41) lost to India 236/4 in 44.2 overs (Smriti Mandhana 100, Harmanpreet Kaur 70 not out, Yastika Batia 35, Hannah Rowe 2/47)
