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Xtra Time Web Desk : India Women's cricket team on Thursday lost their second clash of the world cup against New Zealand by a margin of 62 runs, in spite of restricting the Kiwis to a total of 260 in their respective 50 overs.

India have now slipped to fifth among eight teams after this defeat while New Zealand, with two wins from three games, are now second behind Australia in the overall standings.

Puja Vastrakar's 4 for 34 in 10 overs and Harmanpreet Kaur's 71 off 62 balls were two isolated performances which hardly made any impact on the larger outcome.

While Vastrakar's four-for could still be credited for stopping New Zealand's total from going north of 280, Harmanpreet's runs might just help her regain confidence for the coming games.

Amelia Kerr (50 and 3/56 in 9 overs), one half of the famous Kerr sisters, first laid the platform with a solid half century and then breached the defences of rival skipper Mithali Raj (31 off 56 balls) with a flighted delivery.

The pursuit of 261 started on a discordant note with Smriti Mandhana (6 off 21 balls), Yastika Bhatia (28 off 59 balls) and Deepti Sharma (5 off 13 balls) unable find ways to rotate the strike.

Mithali's struggles have been well documented and it's not getting any better in her last tournament for India.