Cricket World Cup: Family first - White Ferns duo Lea Tahuhu, Amy Satterthwaite shine in crucial win over India

It was a family affair for the White Ferns in their dominant 62-run World Cup win over India at Hamilton on Thursday.

Married couple Lea Tahuhu and Amy Satterthwaite were at the heart of the hosts' resounding victory, with player-of-the-match Satterthwaite top-scoring for the hosts with a composed 75, before Tahuhu's miserly spell of medium pace helped put the finishing touches on a one-sided contest at Seddon Park.

And to add an extra touch of wholesomeness to the occasion, two-year-old daughter Grace was watching on for the stands, as Satterthwaite slayed the Indian attack.

"It's always really special to take the field and know that your daughter's there watching," Tahuhu said after the game. 

"It's a pretty cool time in our lives."

Grace had snuck off to bed by the time it was Tahuhu's turn, but nonetheless, the bowler turned it on with three wickets at the cost of just 17 runs through her 10 overs.

After two uncharacteristically expensive efforts in the opening two games of the tournament, Tahuhu was at her masterful best against the Indians, reaching deep into her bag of variations to pose questions her opponents struggled to answer.

Captain Sophie Devine decided to mix up her attack and open with the spin of Frankie Mackay and instead use Tahuhu at first change. That decision paid off, as Tahuhu ensured two of India's most dangerous batters - Deepti and Bhatia - were back inside the sheds within the first 20 overs.

"One of the things with this bowling order is that anyone can do any job they’re asked to do," she said, taking three wickets of her own. 

"It's a bit of a different challenge [to bowl at first change] but it's still nice to put a performance out there no matter when you’re thrown the ball."

The dot-ball pressure applied in tandem with spinner Melie Kerr proved too difficult for the Indians to negotiate, as they chased the contest throughout and never quite got back in the game.

Tahahu admitted the White ferns had thought they'd sold themselves short with the bat, after losing a string of late wickets to reduce their fast start.

"We actually thought we were probably 10-15 [runs] short," she said. 

"We lost a few too many wickets at the back end, and we couldn’t capitalise on the last 10 overs with the bat."

Ultimately the target of 261 was too steep a mountain for the Indians, with Tahuhu crediting bowling coach Jacob Oram with some game-changing tweaks that helped her rediscover her mojo.

"To be honest I was probably disappointed with my first two games," Tahuhu said. "It was not where I wanted to be.

"I did a lot of work in the nets yesterday with Jake Oram, so it was nice to bounce back from what I would say was a pretty rocky start to the tournament for me personally."

Now with back-to-back wins in the bag and the hearbreak of their opening loss to West Indies firmly behind them, the White Ferns will try to take another step towards the knockout rounds against Australia - one of the tournament favourites - on Sunday.

Join us for live updates of the White Ferns v Australia from 11am Sunday