On October 23, 2025, Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana registered stunning tons to bring a struggling ODI World Cup campaign back on track against New Zealand in Navi Mumbai.
Exactly a year later, Pratika (100 not out, 96b, 15×4) raised her bat once more to set up a crushing nine-wicket win over Zimbabwe, with help from a marauding Shafali Verma (64 not out, 33b, 5×4, 4×6), in the first ODI at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara on Friday.
Zimbabwe prudently opted to bat, avoiding a slow roast under the scorching Vadodara sun and the pressure of a mammoth score India was well capable of setting if allowed the right of the first essay.
On a new red soil pitch, Zimbabwe struggled to get going, courtesy some tight stump lines and smart use of the mild swing on offer by India. The host’s discipline was rewarded in the third over when Kranti Gaud (three for 42) caught a struggling Loryn Phiri off her own bowling.
Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano smacked Kranti for a boundary off her very first delivery, and would have been making the long walk back to the dugout if Richa Ghosh had nailed a sharp dive to her left. N. Sree Charani (four for 23) helped snuff out any audacious efforts to score, with a maiden.
Deepti Sharma then fumbled a chance to dismiss Modester Mupachikwa off debutant Jintimani Kalita’s first over. Zimbabwe used the Assam medium pacer’s short balls and width to accumulate runs.
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Charani removed Mugeri-Tiripano and Mupachikwa in her next two overs, with Zimbabwe managing just 55 by the end of the 15th. Sharne Mayers, whose T20I form made her a big threat in this game, tamely fell to Deepti, whose animated celebrations said it all.
Beloved Biza (62, 92b, 5×4) then took charge for the Women in Red, with some neat running and the odd crisp boundary when the Indian concentration began to taper in the heat. She found support in Nyasha Gwanzura. Even the stump mics picked up fielder frustrations when Deepti erred in her lengths to allow two boundaries.
Biza even managed to sneak a four off the miserly Charani, dancing down the track to send the ball to mid-off, and bring up the Zimbabwe 100 in the process. Despite Gwanzura falling to the Indian left-arm spinner, 17-year-old Biza persevered, bringing up her fourth ODI fifty lofting the ball over Harmanpreet Kaur stationed at mid-off.
India, meanwhile, continued to punctuate Zimbabwe’s audacity with Kranti wrecking Chiedza Dhururu’s stumps. Deepti may have gotten Michelle Mavunga when the ball rolled back onto the stumps, but not hard enough to cause worry.
What followed was an enterprising cameo from Mavunga, the only batter who managed to breach a strike rate of 100. Once again Charani – who registered her best bowling figures in ODIs in this fixture – came to India’s rescue as she removed Mavunga in the 43rd with Jintimani running in to pouch the ball at long on.
Zimbabwe’s push to survive the full 50 overs went in vain, with the innings cruelly winding up on the penultimate regulation ball, with India handed a sub-par 198-run target.
Smriti and Pratika’s arrival for the chase was carefully followed by every eye and lens in the sparsely populated Kotambi stadium, with Shafali left waiting her turn in the dressing room. The pair cruised at nearly nine runs an over in the first six, with Zimbabwe, without skipper Josephine Nkomo due to injury for this game, left stumped for answers. Even the marginal slowdown after the PowerPlay kept India well above the asking rate and on course for a simple victory.
When Smriti fell to Olinder Chare in the 16th, Shafali – batting at no.3 for only the second time in ODIs – was handed the responsibility of seeing the chase off on a high and she didn’t disappoint. Her 106-run partnership with Pratika sealed the contest with 137 balls to spare, getting India off to a winning start in the ICC Championship.
Published on Oct 23, 2026
