Wellington, April 4 : New Zealand women's cricket team registered a convincing 66-run win over South Africa in the final match of the three match ODI series played at the Basin Reserve on Saturday.

Batting first after being put in, New Zealand posted a strong total of 306/7 in 50 overs, thanks to a superb unbeaten century from Maddy Green. In reply, South Africa were bowled out for 240 in 46.1 overs.

With this win, New Zealand secured the ODI series 2-1 after a strong all-round performance in the decider.

New Zealand had a poor start, losing two early wickets with just three runs on the board. Green then steadied the innings and built a crucial partnership with Brooke Halliday. The pair added 211 runs for the fourth wicket, putting the hosts in a strong position.

Green played a match-winning knock of 141 not out off 128 balls, hitting 15 boundaries. It was her highest score in ODIs and her third century in the format. Halliday narrowly missed out on a hundred, scoring 98 off 124 balls before getting out in the 40th over.

Chasing 307, South Africa needed a solid partnership but kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Rosemary Mair was the standout performer with the ball, taking five wickets for 50 runs to break the backbone of the chase.

Laura Wolvaardt and Annerie Dercksen added 77 runs for the second wicket to keep South Africa in the contest. Wolvaardt top-scored with 69, while Dercksen made 47.

However, once the partnership was broken, South Africa suffered a collapse, losing six wickets for just 59 runs. Chloe Tryon tried to add some quick runs with a 29-run cameo, but it was not enough.

Mair received support from Amelia Kerr, who picked up two wickets, while Jess Kerr, Kayley Knight and Nensi Patel chipped in with one wicket each.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 306/7 in 50 overs (Maddy Green 141*, Brooke Halliday 98; Ayanda Hlubi 2-47, Tumi Sekhukhune 2-57) beat South Africa 240/10 in 46.1 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 69, Annerie Dercksen 47; Rosemary Mair 5-50, Amelia Kerr 2-37) by 66 runs.

/IANS