Wellington, December 23
Australia clinched a 75-run triumph over New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on Monday, and completed a three-peat of ICC Women's Championship title-winning campaigns.
According to ICC, Australia's victory over the Kiwis have helped them complete their 24-match campaign with 39 points (17 wins, three no-results, three defeats).
Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Kaur-led India can only reach 37 points with two remaining matches against West Indies and three against Ireland.
The defeat on Monday against the Aussies will be a headache for the Kiwis since their chances of automatic qualification for the 2025 ICC Women's Cricket World Cup take a hit.
Australia's win will also help Sri Lanka since now they cannot be overtaken by the other two teams with the fixtures in hand and have therefore claimed an automatic spot for next year's ICC event.
Recapping the third ODI match of the series, Australia Women won the toss and decided to bat first against New Zealand.
Phoebe Litchfield (50 runs from 59 balls, 5 fours) and Alyssa Healy (39 runs from 44 balls, 4 fours) opened for the Aussies and gave them a kickstart.
In the middle-order, Annabel Sutherland (42 runs from 43 balls, 6 fours) and Ashleigh Gardner (74 runs from 62 balls, 9 fours and 1 six) added crucial runs and powered Australia to 290 in the first inning.
Amelia Kerr led the Kiwi bowling attack picking up four wickets in her 10-over spell for 54 runs. Rosemary Mair bagged three wickets. While skipper Sophie Devine took two wickets.
During the run chase, Suzie Bates (53 runs from 59 balls, 8 fours) opened for New Zealand and displayed a stupendous performance, however, it was not enough to help them clinch a win.
Maddy Green (39 runs from 35 balls, 3 fours), Brooke Halliday (27 runs from 36 balls, 4 fours) and skipper Sophie Devine (25 runs from 41 balls, 2 fours) put up a show in the game but they failed to cement a partnership and were bundled out at 215 with six overs remaining.
Annabel Sutherland and Alana King led the Aussie bowling attack as they picked up three wickets each in their respective spells.
Annabel Sutherland was named the 'Player of the Match' for her stupendous performance in the game.