India Women may not have played the 50-over format for close to eight months, but they showed little to no signs of rustiness in their first-ever One Day International against Zimbabwe. Playing as the current ODI world champions, and featuring in only their second series since their maiden World Cup triumph in November 2025, the hosts brushed the tourists aside with absolute ease at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara to secure a comprehensive nine-wicket victory with a staggering 137 balls remaining.
The foundation for the win was laid by a disciplined and incisive bowling performance, spearheaded by N Shree Charani and Kranti Gaud, who shared seven wickets between them to bundle Zimbabwe out for 197 in 48.3 overs. In response, Pratika Rawal led the chase masterfully, notching up her third ODI century. Rawal finished on an unbeaten 100 off 96 deliveries, while explosive opener Shafali Verma played a blistering, carefree knock of 64 not out off just 33 balls to steer India home comfortably with 22.5 overs to spare.
The fixture also marked a significant milestone for Smriti Mandhana, who was leading India in an ODI for the first time since being appointed full-time captain. The transition appeared seamless as Mandhana and Rawal reunited at the top of the order to give India a flying start in pursuit of the modest target. They were aided initially by some wayward bowling from the Zimbabwean attack, particularly from Nomvelo Sibanda, who was standing in as captain for the injured Josephine Nkomo due to a late niggle. Sibanda repeatedly strayed onto the pads, allowing the Indian openers to gallop to 48 without loss inside the first five overs before the opposition spinners managed to tighten the scoring rate and introduce some dot balls.
Rawal, who initially raced to 37 off 29 balls, prudently decided to consolidate after the initial powerplay, eventually bringing up her half-century off her 54th delivery. She shared a solid 94-run partnership for the opening wicket with Mandhana. The partnership was finally broken when Mandhana, looking to accelerate and take on the leg-spin of Olinder Chare, holed out to long-on.
Enter Shafali Verma, batting at number three in ODIs for only the second time in her career. Shafali immediately shifted the game into a higher gear, raising India’s scoring rate dramatically. She raced to her fifty off just 29 deliveries, a remarkable feat considering she did not have the benefit of the fielding restrictions of the game’s first ten overs. Shafali was particularly severe on Chare, dispatching the leg-spinner for 43 runs off just 19 balls faced against her. Such was Shafali’s breakneck scoring speed that it ultimately gave Rawal just enough time and runs to comfortably complete her own hundred.
With Rawal sitting on 89 and India needing only 32 more runs for victory, Shafali struck three consecutive sixes in a single over off Chare that leaked 20 runs. Rawal then sealed her milestone in the 27th over by hitting Tendai Makusha for successive boundaries through the field to bring up a well-deserved century. Fittingly, Shafali finished the game off in the following moments with a clean, lofted hit straight over off-spinner Nyasha Gwanzura’s head, completing India’s dominant victory.
Earlier in the day, Zimbabwe experienced a mixed start after winning the toss and electing to bat first. They suffered an early blow when opening batter Loryn Phiri fell cheaply. Kranti Gaud surprised Phiri with a sharp bumper, forcing a top-edged pull shot that allowed Gaud to complete a smart, diving caught-and-bowled dismissal. However, Modester Mupachikwa and Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano attempted to repair the early damage, cashing in on any width on offer during the opening powerplay to push Zimbabwe’s score to 46 for 1.
Mupachikwa began her innings fluently before gradually losing her momentum. She had earlier benefited from a piece of good fortune when she was dropped by Deepti Sharma off the bowling of Jintimani Kalita, who was making her international debut in this match. Mupachikwa moved along to 24 off 31 balls at one stage, but soon found it increasingly difficult to score freely against the tight bowling of Shree Charani and Deepti Sharma. Eventually, looking to break the shackles, Mupachikwa attempted to loft the left-arm spinner out of the ground but only managed a miscued shot to mid-off, departing for 25 runs from 43 deliveries.
Beloved Biza then stepped up to keep the scoreboard ticking over through the middle overs of the innings, though she unfortunately found very little support from the other end. Gwanzura hung around for a brief period before hitting a delivery straight to Shree Charani. The pair had managed to add 43 runs for the wicket off 57 balls, with Biza doing the heavy lifting. When Zimbabwe slipped to 140 for 6 at the start of the 36th over, it appeared likely that the innings would fold quickly and cheaply.
However, Michelle Mavunga injected vital momentum into the lower order with a lively cameo of 29 runs from 23 balls. Mavunga made her intentions clear immediately by lofting the very first ball she faced over extra cover for a boundary, and later picked the bones out of a slower delivery from Sayali Satghare to send it sailing deep over the midwicket boundary.
Shree Charani ultimately ended that brief counter-attack by having Mavunga caught by debutant Kalita—who became only the second woman from Assam to play an ODI for India—at long-on. Meanwhile, Biza reached a significant personal milestone by completing her fourth ODI half-century. At 17 years and 291 days old, Biza became only the second-youngest woman in cricket history, behind England’s Sarah Taylor, to score an ODI half-century against India. In a desperate attempt to gather quick runs during the death overs, Biza fell to Gaud, caught at cover, which gave the bowler her third wicket of the innings.
The match also highlighted the changing conditions at the Kotambi Stadium. Since Mandhana led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to their second Women’s Premier League title earlier in the year, the venue had transitioned from a traditional black-soil pitch to a red-soil one. India not only adapted brilliantly to these new conditions but also ensured a frictionless, winning start to Mandhana’s tenure as India’s full-time ODI captain.
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