The White Ferns have survived a horror batting collapse to claim their ODI series against Pakistan with a game to spare, winning by a single wicket with seven balls to spare despite being 155/2 midway through their chase.
Having won the first ODI by a commanding 131 runs in Queenstown earlier this week, a win in Christchurch this evening would wrap up the three-match series with a game to spare.
But unlike Tuesday's comfortable win, tonight's contest was a much more tense affair thanks to a middle order collapse from the White Ferns.
Pakistan were all out for 220 in their 50 overs at Hagley Oval this afternoon after being sent in to bat by the Kiwis and things couldn't have started any better for the hosts with opener Muneeba Ali dismissed with the first delivery of the match from Lea Tahuhu.
That sparked a top order collapse from Pakistan as they were reduced to 35/4 after 12 overs, but the visitors managed to stabalise themselves thanks to their middle order and in particular stand-in captain Fatima Sana.
Fatima finished with an unbeaten 90 while Natalia Pervaiz and Najiha Alvi contributed 39 and 32 runs respectively to help keep the scoreboard ticking over.
But once Alvi fell in the 47th over, the tail end of Pakistan's order was exposed and quickly taken apart with the final four batters only able to combine for 10 runs with their final four wickets.
Sophie Devine proved to be the top bowler in the Kiwi innings with three wickets from just six overs while only allowing 25 runs. Molly Penfold and Fran Jonas also contributed two dismissals each.
The White Ferns had a shaky start of their own after losing opener Melie Kerr and captain Devine early on in the chase, reducing them to 13/2 in just the third over but, much like the previous innings, Suzie Bates and Maddy Green came together to recover their campaign.
Bates brought up a fifty in 65 balls and the chasers settled into their groove and Green earned her own half-century coincidentally off the exact same amount of deliveries soon after.
That saw the White Ferns sitting comfortable at 155/2 heading into the final 20 overs before Bates fell.
Cue the tense finish.
With Green falling less than four overs later, the White Ferns' middle order was asked to step and bring the win home with plenty of balls to spare but Pakistan made breakthrough after breakthrough under the Hagley lights.
Izzy Gaze and Hannah Rowe fell for single digits before Georgia Plimmer was dismissed via an LBW for just 10 runs and Bernadine Bezuidenhout - batting down the order after hurting her hand in the first innings - also went an over later.
With Penfold also dismissed for just two runs, 19-year-old Jonas headed to the crease to join veteran Lea Tahuhu with the equation now 13 runs needed from 26 balls with just one wicket left.
Tahuhu took the lead in the partnership, retaining strike when she could while Jonas simply did what was tasked of her - block and take a single if offered.
The plan was working perfectly until Jonas decided to take matters into her own hands with a superbly-timed shot that scored three runs and tied the scores, leaving Tahuhu to win it.
But instead, in truly anti-climactic fashion, it was a wide delivery that sealed the result with seven balls and one wicket to spare.
The win means Monday's finale again at Hagley Oval will be a dead rubber with the White Ferns now owning an unassailable 2-0 lead but they will look to go at it with plenty of work-ons, having snuck home tonight.
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