White Ferns leave it late to seal series

The White Ferns had to hold their nerve, but they won their Twenty20 series against India.

Former captain Suzie Bates led the way with 62 off 52 balls, while current skipper Amy Satterthwaite made 23 off 20 as they chased down 136 at Eden Park in Auckland yesterday to take a 2-0 series lead.

Their pursuit came down to the final over, where nine were needed, and Katey Martin began with a four, but was bowled by seamer Mansi Joshi the next ball.

A two to Hannah Rowe, with the second stolen following a rebound off the stumps came next, then a single, then another single, to Leigh Kasperek, and another single to Rowe, which sealed the result.

The four-wicket win secured the three-match series for the White Ferns, who won the first match in Wellington on Wednesday by 23 runs in dramatic fashion.

Opening with Bates, Sophie Devine helped the White Ferns get off to a fast start, making 19 off 16 balls before she was bowled by Radha Yadav.

Katie Gurrey then came and went for four, bringing Satterthwaite to join Bates, who she succeeded as captain last year.

The White Ferns were 62-2 at the halfway stage, but the experienced duo accelerated their scoring and took control of the game.

The pair brought up their 50-run partnership in the 14th over, off 39 balls, and extended it to 61 in the following over, before Poonam Yadav dismissed Satterthwaite.

Bates then fell with 18 required off 16 balls, and there was a further stumble as Anna Peterson was caught in the deep for a golden duck, Arundhati Reddy making the crucial breakthrough.

Earlier, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues starred for India, just as they did in the first T20 on Wednesday. But while they combined to score 108 runs, nobody else managed more than six as the visitors made 135-6 from their 20 overs.

Mandhana and Rodrigues shared in a partnership of 63 off 46 balls for the second wicket before Rosemary Mair struck in the 10th over, getting Mandhana to offer up a catch to Suzie Bates when she was on 36 off 27 balls.

Rodrigues, 18, was almost singlehandedly pushing India towards a competitive total, making 72 off 53 balls before she was stumped by Martin off Amelia Kerr’s bowling in the penultimate over.

India had made 71 off 58 balls when Mandhana departed, but only added 64 off the final 62 as no-one was able to offer Rodrigues any significant support.

Mair was the pick of the White Ferns’ bowlers in her second international, taking 2-17 off her four overs, including the innings turning scalp of Mandhana.

The series concludes at Seddon Park in Hamilton tomorrow.