Twitter Reactions: Smriti Mandhana's classy century guides India Women to series victory over New Zealand

The third ODI of the series between India Women and New Zealand Women went in favour of the hosts who registered a clinical performance to get over the line. It was a thorough all-round effort which saw India clinch the three-match series.

The first four overs saw only six come off them. The White Ferns did get off the blocks courtesy of a couple of boundaries each in the fifth and sixth over, respectively, by Georgia Plimmer, but a severe miscommunication saw the end of Suzie Bates. The big wicket of Sophie Devine came via a Priya Mishra googly catching Devine off guard. Despite wickets falling all around, it was Brooke Halliday who navigated the innings to a respectable score. 

She not only top-scored in the innings but also registered her highest score in her 35th ODI. She was looking all set for a ton but it was Deepti Sharma, the pick of the bowlers for the Indian unit, who scalped her the very delivery after Halliday had larruped Deepti for the all-rounder's third maximum. Her 86 brought New Zealand to a score of 232.

It was Shafali Verma whose lacklustre series with the bat continued after she was caught behind early in the piece. Yastika Bhatia came in at number three and looked in fine nick and promised to carry on to scale a big knock. However, she offered a return catch to Devine whose full-length ploy paid off. From thereon, it was all about Smriti Mandhana's elegance. She was ably supported by the skipper as they milked the bowlers around the park while adding to their scores. 

Mandhana brought up her 8th hundred in W-ODIs, the most for India Women, leaving behind the great Mithali Raj. Although she was dismissed after two deliveries, the job was all but done. Harmanpreet Kaur, who was struggling with a bit of cramp, brought up her fifty and hit the winning shot to guide her side to a series win over the Women's T20 World Cup champions.  

Here's how X reacted to the third ODI between IND-W and NZ-W:

Half century for India captain, Harmanpreet Kaur! 🔥

- Reaching her fifty in 55 balls with 5 fours. Well played skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur good batting. 👏#INDvsNZ #indwvnzw #HarmanpreetKaur #SmritiMandhana pic.twitter.com/PaWKregmay

— Akaran.A (@Akaran_1) October 29, 2024

Queen finally back to what she does best 🫰🤌🫶💓#SmritiMandhana pic.twitter.com/6WDpMblQq7

— Smriti Mandhana Admirer (@SMAdmirer) October 29, 2024

Most ODI Hundreds for India:

In Men's - Virat Kohli.

In Women's - Smriti Mandhana.

In Overall - Virat Kohli.

- THE DOMINATION OF NO.18...!!!! 👑#Viratkohli #Smritimandhana #IPLRetention #IPLAuction pic.twitter.com/yVdTCwSLCb

— Cricket Knowledge (@SirraManmo26299) October 29, 2024

5️⃣0️⃣FOR CAPTAIN HARMANPREET KAUR💙#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/yxM3B2Y9zr

— 🚩🇮🇳 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐈 𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐇 𝟏𝟖 ❤️ (@_Goat_Kohli_18) October 29, 2024

India Women's Beat New Zealand by 6 wickets to win the series 2-1

Smriti Mandhana 100 and Harmanpreet Kaur 59*#INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/pBE9aiPW1U

— Abhijeet ♞ (@TheYorkerBall) October 29, 2024

Mandhana - 100(122).
Harmanpreet - 55*(61).
Yastika - 35(49).
Jemimah - 22(18).
Indus chased down - 233 in 3rd ODIs.

- TEAM INDIA WON THE ODI SERIES BY 2-1 vs NEW ZEALAND...!!!! 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/QPVLSiYbfp

— Khalid khan (@imkhalidsports) October 29, 2024

Smriti Mandhana - 100(122)
Harmanpreet Kaur - 59*(63)
INDIA WON THE ODI SERIES AGAINST NEW ZEALAND 🇮🇳 A Great start Kaur & her team with the World Cup is one year away....!!!!

— Amit Singh 🇮🇳❣️ (@KR_AMIT007) October 29, 2024