India 328 for 6 (Harmanpreet 126, Deepti 106*, Sibanda 2-38) beat Zimbabwe 207 (Mupachikwa 49, Mugeri-Tiripano 46, Vaishnavi 4-39) by 121 runs
Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma, full of experience with the bat, and Vaishnavi Sharma, India's next-gen with the ball, led from the front in the second ODI against Zimbabwe in Vadodara to secure the ODI series 2-0. It also marked Smriti Mandhana's first series win as full-time ODI captain.
Harmanpreet's 126 off 121 balls and Deepti's unbeaten 106 off 86 carried India to 328 for 6 after they had slipped to 19 for 2 and then 149 for 4. Pratika Rawal contributed 61 in the first recovery, while Harmanpreet and Deepti added 155 in a record fifth-wicket partnership for India in women's ODIs.
In the chase, Zimbabwe offered resistance through Modester Mupachikwa and Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, but their chase gradually lost momentum. Vaishnavi's 4 for 39 in only her second ODI and Deepti's three late wickets brought in the close in the 49th over, short of their target by 121 runs.
The afternoon began with India choosing to bat and the captain Mandhana fell for a duck in the opening over. She attempted to pull a shortish delivery that held in the surface and offered a catch to short third. Sibanda struck again in the third over, when Shafali Verma pulled firmly towards midwicket and Nyasha Gwanzura took a low catch.
Despite the jolt, Harmanpreet began positively, cutting Sibanda past point and driving Tendai Makusha between cover and mid-off. Rawal was more watchful, particularly outside off stump, before gradually expanding her range. She used her bottom hand to shovel Makusha over long-on for six and later advanced to loft Phiri over mid-off. Those were India's only sixes of the innings.
Rawal reached her ninth ODI fifty off 57 balls, and Harmanpreet followed with her own half-century. Their 124-run partnership had restored India's innings, however Zimbabwe then struck twice in eight deliveries.
Rawal was caught by Beloved Biza near the deep midwicket boundary off Gwanzura in the 23rd over, departing for 61 off 67 balls. In the following over, Tejal Hasabnis tried to slog legspinner Olinder Chare and sent the ball high towards mid-on, where Michelle Mavunga ran back to complete an excellent catch.
India were 149 for 4 and Deepti immediately put pressure on the spinners, sweeping deliveries from outside off, pulling anything short and cutting through point whenever width appeared. She raced from 16 to 55 in 23 balls and reached her half-century off 40 deliveries. Harmanpreet was content to rotate the strike between her boundaries, using her wrists to find gaps square of the wicket and driving through the off side.
Zimbabwe's fielding, impressive earlier, began to falter. Captain Josephine Nkomo dropped Harmanpreet at short midwicket on 68, and further chances went down later. Harmanpreet reached her eighth ODI hundred off 102 balls in the 41st over, paddling Biza fine for two.
The conditions took a toll on both batters, who required attention from the physio during the latter stages. Harmanpreet eventually fell in the 47th over, toe-ending a lofted shot. Her 126 contained 15 fours.
Deepti entered the final over on 97 and reached her hundred by sweeping Makusha for four before striking the next delivery to the boundary as well. She finished unbeaten on 106, with 15 fours. Her second ODI century came 3450 days after her maiden hundred in 2017, the second-longest gap between centuries in women's ODIs. Her innings was also the second-highest score by a batter at No. 6 or lower in the format.
Zimbabwe's response to 329 initially frustrated India's bowlers. Mupachikwa cut Sayali Satghare for consecutive fours off the first two deliveries and continued to punish width from the seamers. N Shree Charani dismissed Phiri for six in the ninth over, but Mugeri-Tiripano immediately attacked India's spinners, taking two boundaries off Deepti's first over and three off Charani in the 13th.
Mupachikwa and Mugeri-Tiripano added 69 for the second wicket, carrying Zimbabwe to 107 for 1 in the 22nd over. Both appeared destined for half-centuries, but Satghare bowled Mugeri-Tiripano for 46 off 57 balls in the 23rd over, beating her attempted drive to knock back off stump.
Mupachikwa continued to occupy the crease, although the required rate climbed steadily. Vaishnavi, playing in place of the rested Kranti Gaud, dismissed her for 49 off 70 balls in the 28th over. The left-arm spinner changed her angle, drew a sliced cut and watched substitute Harleen Deol dive forward at backward point to complete the catch. It was Vaishnavi's maiden ODI wicket.
The breakthrough began an impressive spell from Vaishnavi on an evening when fellow left-arm spinner Charani, who had taken career-best figures in the opening ODI, was unusually expensive. Vaishnavi varied her pace and flight to claim three more wickets: Biza lbw for 34 in the 38th over after a successful India review, Mavunga bowled in the 40th, and captain Nkomo lbw for 22 in the 42nd.
Deepti added two wickets in successive deliveries in the 46th over, trapping Gwanzura lbw and having Sibanda caught by Hasabnis at slip. She finished with a three-for to go with her century.