Auckland, March 20 (IANS) Sophie Devine’s 55 not out after her brilliant bowling effort powered New Zealand to a six-wicket win over South Africa in the third T20I here at Eden Park on Friday and took a 2-1 series lead in the five-match series with two games to go.

After opting to bat first, the Proteas women were restricted to 149/7, with Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates picking up a couple of wickets each. In response, Devine’s half-century led the chase, with support from Amelia Kerr (30) and Maddy Green (34), as the hosts chased down the target in 18.4 overs to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Batting first, South Africa got off to a disastrous start as they were reduced to 9/2 within three overs when Rosemary Mair removed opener Tazmin Brits in the second over, and Jess Kerr joined the party in the next over to dismiss Sune Luus.

Annerie Dercksen and skipper Laura Wolvaardt stitched together a crucial 51-run stand for the third wicket to steady the innings after early setbacks. The partnership, however, was broken by Sophie Devine, who dismissed Dercksen for 27.

Then Suzie Bates removed Chloe Tryon before Sophie Devine struck again, dismissing Nadine de Klerk, as the visitors slipped to 101/5 in 15 overs, leaving them in a spot of bother.

Kayla Reyneke (34 not out off 20) provided late momentum in the death overs, smashing two sixes and a four straight down the ground in the last over to lift South Africa to 149/7.

Chasing 150, New Zealand lost their openers Georgia Plimmer (4) and Isabella Gaze (17) in the powerplay. The Devine and Amelia stitched a 30-run stand for the third wicket. But South Africa tightened up, though, and the wickets of Amelia Kerr and Brooke Halliday in the 10th over left the chase in a tense situation. New Zealand needed 82 off 60 with six wickets in hand. Devine was 13 off 10.

But Sophie Devine and Maddy Green signalled the shift in momentum with an unbeaten 84-run stand for the fifth wicket. When the partnership brought up its fifty, Green had contributed just 12 off 15 balls, with Devine doing the bulk of the scoring from the other end. She carried that dominance through to the finish as New Zealand wrapped up the chase with six wickets in hand and eight balls to spare.

–IANS

bc/