A captain's knock by Suzie Bates has helped the White Ferns to a six-wicket win over Australia in the fourth of the Twenty20 international series at Sydney Olympic Stadium in Sydney.
With Australia already having an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series, the White Ferns gave their fans something to cheer about as they first confined Australia to 92 for seven off a reduced 18 overs and then went on to reach the target with five balls to spare.
The White Ferns' chase got off to a solid start with Sara McGlashan, who was elevated to the top of the order, hitting a towering six and a boundary on her way to a quickfire 19.
A number of small partnerships followed, including a meaningful 19-run stand for the third wicket between Bates and debutant Maddie Green, who contributed 18 on her own.
Bates continued to control the run chase, carrying her bat through the innings to topscore 40 not out with the team making 95 for four.
Earlier, a tight bowling performance and sharp fielding effort kept Australia on the back foot from the outset.
The team completed the first of two run-outs after just six balls had been delivered and continued to apply the pressure to see the top four Australian batsmen back in the pavilion by the end of the fifth over.
Jodie Fields (37) and Lisa Sthalekar (23) then steadied the innings with a 43-run stand before the White Ferns picked up two further wickets to finish strongly.
Kate Broadmore was miserly and accurate throughout her four overs, making two early strikes before returning at the end of the innings to complete the job with figures of 3 for 9.
The teams now head to the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Friday for the final match of the tour.
Scoreboard
Australia innings (18 overs max)
L Poulton c Martin b Broadmore 19
M Lanning run out (Mackay) 1
J Cameron c McGlashan b Tahuhu 4
S Coyte st Martin by Broadmore 1
L Jonassen b Broadmore 0
J Fields not out 37
L Sthalekar c Broadmore b Satterthwaite 23
A Blackwell run out (Green( 3
E Osborne not out 0
Extras (b1, lb1, w1, nb1) 4
Total (for 7 wickets, 18 overs) 92
Fall of wickets: 1-4 (Lanning), 2-8 (Cameron), 3-11 (Coyte), 4-17 (Jonassen), 5-30 (Poulton), 6-73 (Sthalekar,), 7-91 (Blackwell).
Bowling: F Mackay 4-0-22-0, L Tahuhu 2-0-11-1, K Broadmore 4-0-9-3, R Candy 3-0-14-0, S Bates 2-0-15-0, A Satterthwaite 3-0-19-1.
New Zealand innings
S Bates not out 40
S McGlashan b Coyte 19
A Satterthwaite c Fields b Sthalekar 7
M Green st Fields b Sthalekar 14
E Perry run out (Coyte) 6
K Perkins not out 5
Extras: (lb3, w1) 4
Total (for 4 wickets, 17.1 overs) 95
Fall of wickets: 1-32 (McGlashan), 2-46 (Satterthwaite), 3-65 (Green), 4-88 (Perry).
Bowling: J Hunter 4-0-25-0, E Osborne 2.1-0-19-0, S Millanta 4-0-18-0, S Coyte 3-0-11-1, L Sthalekar 4-0-19-2.
Result: New Zealand won by six wickets. Australia lead the five-match series 3-1.
