Consolation win for Indian eves

India snatched a consolation win against New Zealand in the third and concluding women's Twenty20 International 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 Krishnamurthy (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.

New Zealand thus ended their month-long tour of India on a satisfying note after having lost the five-match One-Day International (ODI) series that preceded the three T20Is 2-3.

Brief scores: New Zealand 126/8 in 20 overs (Suzie Bates 34; Ekta Bisht 2/23, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 3/17, Poonam Yadav 2/16) lost to India 128/7 in 19 overs (Vanitha Vellaswamy 28, Veda Krishnamurthy 34, Anuja Patil 22; Leigh Kasperek 2/20, Katie Bradmore 2/25).