Consolation win for Indian eves

Bengaluru, July 15: India stched a consolation win against New Zealand in the third and concluding women’s Twenty20 Intertiol here on Wednesday while the visitors clinched the series 2-1. The hosts won by three wickets and an over to spare. Batting first, New Zealand collapsed from 59/1 in the sixth over to 126/8 while India recovered from 73/4 to make 128/7 at the end of the 19th over. Earlier, opener Vanitha Vellaswamy (28) ensured a good start for India but a middle-order collapse saw the hosts slide from 50/1 in the seventh over before Veda Krishmurthy (34, 19b, 6x4) and Anuja Patil (22) retrieved the situation. Suzie Bates (34, 27b, 5x4) provided the White Ferns a fine start, but the rest of the batters failed to contribute substantially and the visitors lost wickets in a hurry to finish with a total that was barely defendable. Brief scores: New Zealand 126/8 in 20 overs (Suzie Bates 34; Ekta Bisht 2/23, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 3/17, Poom Yadav 2/16) lost to India 128/7 in 19 overs (Vanitha Vellaswamy 28, Veda Krishmurthy 34, Anuja Patil 22; Leigh Kasperek 2/20, Katie Bradmore 2/25 (IANS)