Indian women lost another last-ball thriller, their second in two games, as New Zealand completed a 3-0 clean sweep of the T20I series. India lost the the third and final T20I by 2 runs despite another super innings from Smriti Mandhana at the top.

Smriti Mandhana scored 86 off 62 balls, her best score in T20Is, as she and Jemimah Rodrigues (21) again gave India a good foundation chasing a tough target of 162. They added 47 runs for the second wicket as Mandhana completed a 33-ball half-century. 

Harmanpreet fell cheaply again for just 2 runs. Mandhana continued to score at brief pace but fell trying to up the scoring rate as pressure mounted from the other end. 

Mithali Raj and Deepti Sharma kept Indian hopes alive till the last over. With 16 needed off the last over, both Raj and Sharma collected boundaries to make it 7 off 3 balls. With 4 needed off the last ball, Mithali Raj was unable to get more than a single as New Zealand bowled a tight line. 

Earlier, Sophie Devine top scored with 72 while Amy Satterthwaite (31) and Suzie Bates (24) contributed some important runs as New Zealand posted 161/7 in their 20 overs.