AMELIA Kerr’s 68-run knock was followed up by a dominant bowling performance as New Zealand Women defeated India by 63 runs in a rain-curtailed fourth ODI of the five-match series at the John Davies Oval, Queenstown yesterday.

With this win, New Zealand have gained a 4-0 lead in the five-match series. The final ODI will now be played tomorrow. The fourth ODI was curtailed to 20-overs per side after rain played spoilsport.

(Brief Scores: New Zealand 191-5 (Amelia Kerr 68, Suzie Bates 41; Renuka Singh 2-33); India 128 all out (Richa Ghosh 52, Mithali Raj 30; Hayley Jensen 3-3.)

India got off to the worst start possible as the side lost Shafali Verma (0), Yastika Bhatia (0) and Pooja Vastrakar (4) in quick succession and they were reduced to 12-3 in the third over. Soon after, Smriti Mandhana (13) was sent back to the pavilion by Hayley Jensen and India were in a spot of bother at 19-4 in the fifth over.

Richa Ghosh and Mithali Raj then got together at the crease and the duo revived the Indian innings. Ghosh brought up her 50 off just 26 balls and as a result, she registered the fastest 50 by an Indian batter in Women’s ODIs. However, the 18-year-old departed after playing a knock of 52 in the 13th over and India were reduced to 96-5.

India were not able to recover from this blow, and in the end, New Zealand registered a comfortable win.

Earlier, Amelia Kerr played a knock of 68 runs from 33 balls with the help of 11 fours and one six, as New Zealand posted 191-5 against India. Suzie Bates and Sophie Devine also played useful innings of 41 and 32 as White Ferns posted a score of more than the 190-run mark.

Amy Satterthwaite also chipped in with a knock of 32 runs from 16 balls. For India, Renuka Singh returned with two wickets.