Dominant India Women Look To Seal ODI Series Against Zimbabwe

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.

Charani was well backed by seamer Kranti Gaud, who took three wickets, as India bowled Zimbabwe out for 197 and chased down the target with more than 22 overs to spare.

In a series that gives the Indian think tank an opportunity to experiment with combinations, Pratika made the most of her chance on Friday with an aggressive approach en route to her third ODI century.

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.

However, India would also want to improve their catching after two early dropped chances gave the Zimbabwe batters an opportunity to capitalise.

For their part, Zimbabwe's batters deserved credit for being patient when Charani was on song and not losing wickets in a heap against the Indians.

However, the lack of partnerships in the middle order, along with top-order batters Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano and Modester Mupachikwa failing to make the most of the lifelines they received, would be areas Zimbabwe would want to improve upon.

Sharne Mayers has blown hot and cold with scores of 43 not out, 9, 60 and 8 in four matches on this tour so far, and the visitors would want their middle-order batter to come good.

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.

Michelle Mavunga's 23-ball 29, featuring three fours and a six, was another positive for the visitors and provided some much-needed late impetus.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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