In a nail-biting finish, India defeated New Zealand by five runs in the third women's One-Day International cricket match in Bangalore on Wednesday to wrap up the five-match series.
Chasing a victory target of 212, the visitors, who at one stage appeared cruising to victory, ended up at 206 for seven, at the M Chinnaswamy stadium, giving the hosts an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.
Sent into bat, India made 211 for four in 50 overs with all the four top-order batswoman -- Mithali Raj (59), Anjum Chopra (46), Jaya Sharma (43) and Anju Jain (37) -- among the runs.
Victory was very much in New Zealand's grasp after Sara McGlashan hammered Hemalatha Kala for 17 runs in the 46th over to take her side to 191 for five, which meant that the Kiwis required 21 runs in the last four overs with five wickets in hand.
The run-out of New Zealand's top-scorer Haidee Tiffen, the only member of World Cup-winning side touring with the current team, in the 48th over following a brilliant throw from rival skipper Mamatha Maben turned the tide in India's favour.
But even at that stage, the Kiwis had an opportunity to pull off a victory as they needed just tens runs from the last two overs. But the Indians kept their nerve when it mattered the most.
Left-arm spinner Deepa Kulkarni was pick of the Indian bowlers, taking three wickets for 37 runs, while Neetu David scalped two for 21.
Scoreboard
India:
J Sharma c Nicola Browne b Milliken 43
A Jain st. Katey Martin b Mason 37
Anjum Chopra run out 46
Mithali Raj b Scripps 59
Hemalatha Kala not out 1
Mamatha Maben not out 2
Extras: (b5, lb1, w13, nb4) 23
Total: (for 4 wkts in 50 overs) 211
Fall of wickets: 1-82, 2-100, 3-207, 4-207.
Bowling: Milliken 10-1-42-1, Scripps 10-1-51-1, Mason 10-0-45-1, Rebecca Steele 10-1-17-0, Amanda Greene 10-0-50-0.
New Zealand:
KL Pulford b Kulkarni 36
MF Fahey c A Sharma b David 52
KJ Martin lbw b Kulkarni 6
AL Mason lbw b Kulkarni 1
HM Tiffen run out (Maben) 56
MAM Lewis c & b David 3
SJ McGlashan run out (Jain) 26
AJ Green not out 0
N Scripps not out 3
Extras: (b0, lb 12, w 11, nb 0) 23
Total: (for 7 wkts in 50 overs) 206
Did not bat: LE Milliken, RJ Steele.
Fall of wickets: 1-65, 2-79, 3-81, 4-133, 5-152, 6-202, 7-202.
Bowling: A Sharma 7-0-35-0, Kanojia 10-0-38-0, Al Khadeer 10-1-36-0, Kulkarni 10-0-37-3, David 10-4-21-2, Kala 3-0-27-0
