Mandhana, Mithali lead Indian charge to beat Kiwis by 8 wickets

Blistering knocks by opener Smriti Mandhana and skipper Mithali Raj helped India register an eight-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second ODI of their ongoing three-match series and get an unassailable 2-0 lead over the hosts here at the Bay Oval Cricket Ground on Tuesday.

Chasing a target of 162 runs, India lost just two wickets and finished the match within 36 overs of their innings.

Making a shaky start to their innings, India lost one of their openers Jemimah Rodrigues (0) just in the second over of their innings.

Three overs later, the team got another jolt in the form of left-hand batswoman Deepti Sharma who departed back to pavilion at the score of 8.

The visitors looked in trouble as they had lost two crucial wickets at the score of 15 runs. Tides, however, took a turn in India's favour when skipper Mithali joined Mandhana on the crease.

The duo built a match-winning partnership to help India register an easy victory in the end. While Mandhana played an unbeaten knock of 90 runs, Mithali remained not out at the score of 63.

Earlier, opting to bowl first, Indian bowlers put up a sensational performance and bowled out the entire New Zealand team on a meagre score of 161.

Pacer Jhulan Goswami spearheaded the Indian bowling scalping three wickets with an impressive economy rate of 2.76. While Shikha Pandey picked one wicket, Ekta Bisht, Deepti Sharma and Poonam Yadav contributed with two wickets each in the match.

For New Zealand, skipper Amy Satterthwaite emerged as the highest run-getter with a score of 71 runs.

India and New Zealand will play their final ODI of the series on February 1 at the Seddon Park in Hamilton.

-ANI