Australia returned to winning ways with a comfortable four-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second match of the Rose Bowl at North Sydney Oval on Friday.
The Southern Stars, who were beaten by eight wickets in the series opener on Wednesday, reached the target of 289 with 20 balls to spare thanks largely to a blistering opening partnership between Meg Lanning and Rachael Haynes.
Lanning and Haynes combined for 131 runs before Lanning was run out for 72 off 53 balls in the 19th over.
New Zealand roared back into the contest when Morna Nielsen (3-36) dismissed Haynes (70 off 75) and Lisa Sthalekar for a duck from consecutive deliveries in the 25th over before Jess Cameron (36 off 30) was caught off Sian Ruck three overs later.
But the Kiwis were unable to stop Australia from levelling the four-match series as Sarah Coyte, who made an unbeaten 51 off 54 balls, hit the winning runs in the 47th over.
Earlier, Amy Satterthwaite blasted 109 off 119 as New Zealand reached 6-288 from 50 overs.
Opener Frances Mackay (16 off 13) was caught behind off Sharon Millanta in the fourth over before skipper Suzannah Bates and Satterthwaite steadied the ship with a 115-run partnership.
Bates was run out for 59 off 86 in the 29th over, while player-of-the-match Satterthwaite, who hit two sixes and nine fours, was caught off Erin Osborne in the 46th over.
Coyte was the pick of the bowlers with 2-55 off 10 overs, while Osborne (1-45), Jess Jonassen (1-47) and Millanta (1-54) also proved valuable for the Aussies.
The third game of the series is scheduled for Monday at North Sydney Oval.
First Posted 14 December, 2012 5:17PM AEST
