A dominant India will look to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the Women’s ODI series when they take on Zimbabwe in the second match on Sunday. After sweeping the T20I series 3-0, India crushed the visitors by nine wickets in another one-sided contest in the first ODI, with Shree Charani’s career-best 4/23 and Pratika Rawal’s unbeaten 100 paving the way. Charani was on top of her game once again, even though the pitch did not offer much turn, sticking to her ploy of imparting revs on the ball and maintaining tight lines. This approach helped the left-arm spinner tie down the Zimbabwe batters from one end and register her best-ever figures in the format to date.
Pratika was the more belligerent of the two in her 94-run opening stand with skipper Smriti Mandhana, piercing the gaps in the field with utmost ease as they scored at nearly 10 runs per over to utilise the batting-friendly conditions in Kotambi. The form of 17-year-old Beloved Biza, who has scored 4 and 62 in her last two outings, will also be crucial. Biza remained unfazed by the regular fall of wickets around her to score a valuable 62 off 92 balls in the first ODI.
