After going down to South Africa in the second ODI, our White Ferns turned in a far better performance with both bat and ball to take a 9-wicket win in the third ODI. It started by keeping SA under 200 runs from their 50 overs and finished with our two best batswomen, or two of the best female cricketers in the world hitting half-centuries. 

The star of the bowling effort was Holly Huddleston, with the Auckland seamer taking 5/25 off her 10 overs as the Ferns dismissed SA for 188. Morna Nielsen however took the first 2 wickets, finishing with 2/36 off 9 overs while the return of Erin Bermingham (back in for Thamsyn Newton) also proved to have a strong influence on the Ferns' bowling as she only conceded 2.30rpo in her 10 overs. 

In the previous two games, the Ferns had batted first so bowling first was an interesting challenge. Huddleston ensured that the Ferns weren't chasing a big ol' total after chipping away with a wicket in each of the first two games and Huddleston's 5-wicket-haul also came on the back of Amy Satterthwaite's 4/13 in the first game, then Nielsen's 5/39 in the second. That means that the wickets, or dominant performances by our White Ferns bowlers, are being spread around and it's not just spin or seam that is doing the trick. 

Satterthwaite also chipped in with 1/45 off her 10 overs, before coming in at No.3 for the Ferns to hit 89*. Satterthwaite joined Suzie Bates at the crease in the 5th over after Rachel Priest was bowled for 10 and Bates herself hit 82*, with both kiwi stars scoring with a strike-rate over 90. Bates hit 5 fours and 2 sixes, while Satterthwaite hit 12 fours as the Ferns reached their target in just 33.1 overs.

Bates hit 66 in the second game, so she's gone back to back with half-centuries while Satterthwaite was coming off of 47 in the second game and 4 wickets in the first. That puts Satterthwaite at the top of the run-scorers list after three games, with 155 runs at an average of 77.50 while Bates is second on 152 runs at 76.00.  

Satterthwaite is fourth in wickets, taking 5 wickets at an average of 16.40 and 2.82rpo. Huddleston's 5-for has her on 7 wickets at 12.14 and 4.01rpo while Morna Nielsen is the pick of the bowlers from either team on 7 wickets at 12.00 and 2.89rpo.

How am I supposed to pick from Huddleston's wickets and the runs from Bates and Satterthwaite for our Fantastic Fernies? 

The fourth ODI isn't until Monday so everyone gets to take a break for a couple of days. The Ferns will be confident that they can go on to snatch two more wins and seal a series victory, especially with wickets coming from a variety of bowlers and their two best run-scorers in Bates and Satterthwaite enjoying their work at the crease. SA bounced back strongly after a first-up loss though, it'll be interesting to see what sort of challenge they offer on Monday.