That brings an end to our coverage of this game. Do join us on Sunday for the fourth game of the series, which will be played in Wellington. Also, keep joining us for more cricketing action all around the globe. For now, this is Akshay Bhide, signing off, on behalf of my co-commentator Ninaad Dixit and scorer Dushyant Madhukar Kumar. Until next time, cheers and good bye.
Amelia Kerr (New Zealand Women Captain): "[What pleased you most today?] Win is always nice. But Sophie was outstanding. And Maddy Green in the end. It was led from our bowling attack. That energy and all bowlers stepped up at different times.
[Approach while chasing in T20Is] There are always nerves in the chase. But getting to 150 with an over to spare, there is a lot of belief in the group. Sometimes it doesn't work. But having someone bat through like Sophie, we didn't have it last game but it was pleasing to see that today.
[Thoughts on how the series has gone for the group so far] Last three games, I'm extremely proud of the girls. I'm loving how this group is going on the field and off the field. I love the energy with which this group is playing. I love what this group is striving to be. We have a well-balanced bowling attack. Our death bowling is outstanding. If we keep believing as a batting unit, we will be in a great place."
Laura Wolvaardt (South Africa Women Captain): "[on key moments] We were little bit short with the bat. Probably didn't have the best powerplay with the bat. Did well to sort of recover to a decent total. It was definitely a total we could defend. But it's always going to be hard when you have a player like Sophie Devine batting through the innings. She really controlled and made it hard to shut down boundary options. Couple of overs here or there cost us.
[what goes through the mind as a skipper watching Devine bat?] Probably just trying to limit the boundaries as much as we could. Our wide plan worked quite well at the end. We could have maybe deployed that a bit earlier in hindsight. Just trying to identify bowlers that can bring down that rate a little bit when they look like they were comfortable.
[on Kayla Reyneke] I don't think she's been dismissed yet and she's striking it at like 160-180 which is pretty impressive for a youngster. Just the real power that she has. It's like me sort of train every day to try and hit the ball like she does and she's 20 years old and has already got that so it's awesome to see she has a really big future for us."
Sophie Devine (Player of the Match): "[On her knock and the partnership with Green] We spoke about throughout the innings about keeping the run rate under 8. If we had to take calculated risks, we would take it. It was a great cricket wicket. I think Maddy Green did a fantastic job. It's T20 cricket. Momentum can shift in one or two overs.
[On the conversation with Green while batting] We were pretty relaxed. We had the platform and we just had to make sure that the required run rate doesn't creep above 9. Maddy was fantastic. She came out and took the pressure off me.
[Where do you see this group heading?] It's just so exciting. Izzy Gaze and Georgie Plimmer are going at the top of the order. Rosemary Mair and Jess Kerr were fantastic with the ball. Suzie was also good with her off-spin. It's really exciting and when time comes, they will be great."
Player of the Match: Sophie Devine
10:11 AM IST, 5:41 PM Local Time: Thatās it. New Zealand Women create history as they pull off their highest successful run-chase at home in T20Is. They chase down 150 in 18.4 overs to hand South Africa Women a six-wicket defeat at Eden Park. With this, the White Ferns go 2-1 up in the five-match series.
Chasing 150, New Zealandās openers in Georgia Plimmer (4) and Isabella Gaze (17) were back in the hut inside the powerplay. Skipper Amelia Kerr at three looked scratchy for 28-ball 30 before getting trapped right in front of the stumps.
On the final ball of the 10th over, Brooke Halliday (2) got run out. Sophie Devine at the other end was unfazed though as she kept her side in the hunt with a fantastic 29-ball fifty. She received good support from Maddy Green as both kept the Proteas Women at bay.
Devine and Green remained unbeaten on 59 (38) and 34 (25) respectively as they put 84 between them for the fifth wicket to guide their side to victory with eight balls to spare. Annerie Dercksen (1/17), Ayanda Hlubi (1/31) and Nonkululeko Mlaba (1/20) picked up a wicket each for the visitors but they failed to defend the total.
Batting first, South Africa lost Tazmin Brits (0) and Sune Luus (3) inside the powerplay. Annerie Dercksen (27) got a start before getting cleaned up in the eighth over. The New Zealand bowlers bowled well in the middle phase and picked up regular wickets.
Chloe Tryon (15) and Nadine de Klerk (8) failed to make an impact. Skipper Laura Wolvaardt (37) held the innings nicely from one end before getting run out in the 17th over. Kayla Reyneke yet again played a fantastic cameo of 34* off 20 to power her side to 149/7 at the end of 20 overs.
For New Zealand, Sophie Devine (2/21) and Suzie Bates (2/10) picked up two wickets each. Jess Kerr (1/30) and Rosemary Mair (1/32) grabbed a scalp each as they completed a good bowling performance. The batters then stepped up and wrapped up the chase in 18.4 overs to go 2-1 up in the series.
Stay tuned for the post-match presentation.
OVER 19
New Zealand Women
152/4
Sophie Devine
55(38)
Maddy Green
34(25)
Nadine de Klerk
0-31(3.4)
18.5 Klerk to S Devine
nbb4 NO BALL AND IT'S A WIN FOR NEW ZEALAND! de Klerk pitches this way outside the off stump, it lands just outside the strip. Devine leaves and there is nothing the keeper can do to stop it. No ball and four byes in the third man region!