NZ-W vs SA-W: Green, Halliday, Mair shine as New Zealand clinch series

Match Overview

Maddy Green’s 141, Brooke Halliday’s 98 and Rosemary Mair's five-wicket haul headlined New Zealand’s 66-run win over South Africa in the third ODI at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Saturday (April 4). With that, New Zealand came from behind to secure a 2-1 series win after losing the opening game in Christchurch.

After being inserted to bat, New Zealand made a disastrous start, being reduced to 3 for 3 with Tumi Sekhukhune removing both openers, Suzie Bates and Amelia Kerr, while Ayanda Hlubi sent back Georgia Plimmer.

However, Green and Halliday meant business as they stitched together a mammoth 211-run stand for the fourth wicket, keeping South African bowlers at bay for 219 balls. Green slammed 15 fours in her unbeaten knock, while Halliday, who hit 13 fours, missed a well-deserved century by just two runs, falling to Nadine de Klerk in the 40th over.

After Halliday’s exit, Green got brief support from Izzy Sharp (16 off 16) and Nensi Patel (unbeaten 12 off 6), who were the only other New Zealand batters to score in double digits, taking the team to an imposing 306 for 7. For the visitors, Hlubi and Sekhukhune picked two wickets each, while de Klerk and Nonkululeko Mlaba returned with one each.

In response, South Africa made a promising start courtesy of a 68-run opening stand between Laura Wolvaardt and Tazmin Brits (25 off 41) before Rosemary Mair pinned the latter lbw in the 13th over. Wolvaardt then joined hands with Annerie Dercksen, adding 77 for the second wicket. However, South Africa lost the plot when Wolvaardt (69 off 68) fell to Kayley Knight, slipping from 145/1 to 154/4 as Mair struck in successive overs to remove Dercksen (47 off 52) and Anneke Bosch.

South Africa never recovered from those blows, even though Chloe Tryon tried to rebuild the innings with a 26-ball 29. They were eventually restricted to 240 in 46.1 overs, with Mair returning 5 for 50 in 9.1 overs. Amelia Kerr got two wickets, while Nensi, Jess Kerr and Knight got one each.

Top run-scorer of the match

Top wicket-taker of the match

Player of the match

Maddy Green

Maddy Green's career-best unbeaten century was the chief contributor in New Zealand's come-from-behind win. She struck 15 fours in her record knock and added a massive 211-run partnership with Brooke Halliday to rescue the hosts from a precarious 3 for 3.