Queenstown: The series already out of its grasp, a desperate Indian women's cricket team will look to snap the losing streak and salvage some pride by sorting its bowling and fielding woes in the fourth ODI against New Zealand here on Tuesday.
India suffered a second successive three-wicket loss to hosts New Zealand in the third game to concede the five-ODI series.
It was yet another limited-overs series loss for the Indian team, following the defeats to South Africa at home and in England and Australia in the last 12 months.
In the ongoing rubber, if batting let the team down in the one-off T20I and the first ODI, it was the bowlers and fielders who failed to keep things under control in the last two matches as the New Zealand side successfully chased down big totals.
With the World Cup looming, Mithali Raj's team will have to iron out the flaws in the next two ODIs and the return of star opener Smriti Mandhana and pacer Meghna Singh will bolster the team as it looks to get some momentum ahead of the big-ticket event.
In the bowling department, veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami was the only bright spot in the 3rd ODI as she rocked the top-order with three wickets but she lacked support as New Zealand recovered from 171 for 6 to chase down 280 with five balls to spare.
With Meghna back, India will look to field a strong and settled pace attack in the remaining two ODIs after experimenting with Pooja Vastrakar, Simran Bahadur and Renuka Singh.
Among spinners, Deepti Sharma has shone bright with seven scalps, including a four-wicket haul in the second ODI, but the likes of Poonam Yadav and Rajeshwari Gayakwad will have to put up more
consistent shows.