Vadodara, Oct 28 (IANS) Left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma claimed her maiden five-wicket haul in international cricket as India Women bowled out Zimbabwe for 131 in 39.5 overs in the third and final ODI at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara on Wednesday.
Vaishnavi returned impressive figures of 5/39, while Sayali Satghare (2-11) and Kranti Gaud (2-23) picked up two wickets each to dismantle the Zimbabwean batting lineup and leave the visitors with a modest total to defend.
Put into bat first, Zimbabwe endured a middle-order collapse as the visitors’ seamers struck early. Sayali sent Loryn Phiri packing for a six-ball duck in the second over, followed by Kranti, who dealt a similar blow to Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano (4) in the third.
Beloved Biza also had a slow start and was dismissed for one off 16 balls, as she failed to find room before India’s tight bowling came to the party.
The early wickets left the Zimbabwe team struggling to get the momentum on the track that seemed perfect for batting on a sunny day. Wickets kept tumbling as the top-order fell with the score in the twenties; Mupachikwa and Nkomo kept marching on with 37 and 35, respectively.
Mupachikwa added 27 runs with captain Josephine Nkomo for the fourth wicket before losing her wicket.
Nkomo made 35, while Chiedza Dhururu scored 20. Only Nyasha Gwanzura (10) managed to get into double figures as Zimbabwe’s innings folded early. But neither batter was able to see her way through to a sizable knock as the India quicks kept chipping away at the order.
Vaishnavi was very good in that regard, as she managed to make the most of the pressure created by the seamers to get through the middle and lower order as well, and pick up her maiden five-wicket haul.
Sayali and Kranti responded with vital blows of their own to leave Zimbabwe unable to put any kind of recovery together.
Ultimately, the visitors capitulated for 131 in 39.5 overs, getting well short of the 200-run mark Nkomo had set earlier as a reasonable target.
India’s disciplined bowling effort has yielded captain Smriti Mandhana’s pre-match wish of bundling out Zimbabwe to a modest total as the hosts now need 132 runs to complete a clean sweep in the three-match ODI series.
Brief scores:
Zimbabwe Women 131 all out in 39.5 overs (Modester Mupachikwa 37, Josephine Nkomo 35; Vaishnavi Sharma 5/39, Sayali Satghare 2/11) against India Women.
–IANS
hs/bsk/
