Australia have taken a 2-1 lead in the women's cricket Rose Bowl Series after a comprehensive six-wicket victory over New Zealand in the third one-day international at Gardens Oval in Darwin.

The Southern Stars rebounded from their loss in game two on Sunday to again move ahead in the best-of-five series and celebrate Australia's 200th one-day international in style.

Skipper Karen Rolton capped a milestone day for the Southern Stars by becoming just the third woman to score 4,000 runs.

But her deputy Lisa Sthalekar had a day to forget, with the Australian vice-captain suffering a fractured little finger on her left hand while attempting a catch late in New Zealand's innings.

It was the only real sour point for Australia, with the home side chasing down New Zealand's 8-187 with six wickets and more than four overs to spare.

Opener Melissa Bulow top scored with 51, with Alex Blackwell (44 not out) and Jodie Purves (36no) adding an unbroken 71 runs for the fifth wicket to steer the home team to victory.

Earlier, Sarah Andrews gave Australia the ascendancy by taking a miserly 2-3 off six overs in her opening spell.

She finished with figures of 3-23 from her 10 overs, with Shelley Nitschke claiming 3-34.

Rolton, playing her 111th match, made 27 to pass the 4,000 run mark.

"It was a much better effort and I thought with the bat we were more positive today," Rolton said.

"It was great to chase down the runs with four or five overs to go and keep wickets in hand.

"I'm a little disappointed we didn't keep them to about 140, but they had a couple of good partnerships and we dropped a couple of catches."

Sthalekar, who normally bats at No.4, was not required in the run chase, but with her injury is in doubt for the final two matches of the series to be played on Saturday and Sunday.

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