India Women Beat Zimbabwe Women by 9 Wickets — Pratika Rawal's Hundred and Shafali Verma's 33-Ball 64 Make Light Work of 198

India hadn't played an ODI for close to eight months, and this was the first ODI between these two teams. It was also Smriti Mandhana's first ODI as full-time captain. None of that seemed to matter. Zimbabwe chose to bat, made 197, and India knocked the runs off in 27.1 overs for the loss of one wicket.

The one thing Zimbabwe will take from the day is Beloved Biza. She is 17, and she made 62 from 92 balls while wickets fell around her. According to ESPNcricinfo, only England's Sarah Taylor was younger when she made an ODI fifty against India. India lead the series 1-0.

Kranti Gaud struck in the third over. She surprised Loryn Phiri with a bouncer and dived to her right to take the return catch off a top-edged pull. Mupachikwa and Mugeri-Tiripano took advantage of some width to reach 46 for 1 in the powerplay. Then Shree Charani came on, and the scoring stopped. Her 10 overs cost 23 runs and included three maidens. She had Mugeri-Tiripano lbw with one that spun in, Mupachikwa caught at mid-off trying to hit her out of the attack, and Nyasha Gwanzura caught off a firm drive. Later she had Mavunga caught at long-on by debutant Jintimani Kalita. Gaud bowled Chiedza Dhururu in the middle overs and came back at the end to have Biza caught at cover, and Zimbabwe were all out off the penultimate ball of their 50 overs.

The chase was over almost before it began. India were 48 for 0 after five overs, helped by Nomvelo Sibanda straying onto the pads. Rawal and Mandhana added 94 before Mandhana, on 32, holed out to long-on trying to hit Olinder Chare's legspin. Shafali Verma, batting at No. 3, then took over. She reached fifty from 29 balls, and ESPNcricinfo said she scored 43 from 19 balls against Chare. With Rawal on 89, Shafali hit Chare for three sixes in an over that cost 20. That left Rawal just enough runs to reach her hundred.

Zimbabwe's problem was that each time a batter got in, she got out. Mupachikwa was 24 from 31 balls, then struggled against the spinners and holed out. Sharne Mayers went for 8 trying to hit over mid-off. At 140 for 6 in the 36th over, Zimbabwe looked like they might not reach 160. Mavunga's 29 from 23 balls, with a six over deep midwicket off Sayali Satghare, got them closer to 200, but they lost their last four wickets for 17.

Biza did the most. She added 43 with Gwanzura and 40 with Mavunga, and reached her fourth ODI fifty. She was finally caught at cover trying to go big with the tail. With the ball, Zimbabwe were missing Josephine Nkomo, who ESPNcricinfo said was out with a niggle. Sibanda's two overs went for 20, and Chare's seven went for 58. Against a batting line-up like India's, 197 needed tight bowling, and Zimbabwe didn't manage it.

ESPNcricinfo noted that the Kotambi Stadium pitch has been changed from black soil to red soil since the WPL earlier this year. It offered a bit of bounce for Gaud and grip for the spinners, and Shree Charani and Deepti Sharma between them conceded 67 runs in nearly 20 overs. It was also a good surface for batting once batters got in, as Rawal and Shafali showed. India scored 200 in 27.1 overs, more than seven an over. Zimbabwe's 197 was well below par for this pitch.

Rawal's unbeaten 100 came from 96 balls and included 15 fours and no sixes. It was her third ODI hundred. She began quickly, reaching 37 from 29 balls, and then slowed down once the spinners came on, reaching fifty from her 54th ball. She let Mandhana and then Shafali do most of the attacking, and she kept the strike moving. She brought up the hundred with successive fours off Tendai Makusha in the 27th over. Shafali's innings will be the one people talk about, but Rawal was there from the first ball to the last.

This match didn't have a CricIntel preview. We previewed all three T20Is of this tour, but not the first ODI, so there is no prediction to grade here. We'll have full analysis for the next ODI.

India lead the ODI series 1-0 after their first ODI in almost eight months, and Mandhana's captaincy is off to an easy start. India will be pleased with Shree Charani's control and with Shafali, who at No. 3 gives them a different option. Zimbabwe need more batters to support Biza, and they need Nkomo back to give their bowling some control. Their spinners will need to do better against Shafali than Chare did.