India can seal the ODI series against Zimbabwe with a win in Vadodara

India go into the second ODI at Kotambi Stadium one win away from the series after beating Zimbabwe by nine wickets in the opener

Smriti Mandhana's side bowled Zimbabwe out for 197 in 49.5 overs in Vadodara on Friday and chased the target down in 27.1 overs for the loss of a single wicket, taking a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

A second win on Sunday would settle the series with a game still to play. The match begins at 2:00 PM IST at the same ground, and the third ODI follows there on 28 October.

Zimbabwe, led by Josephine Nkomo, came to Gujarat having lost the preceding three-match T20I series 3-0 in Raipur, and have not yet won a game on this tour.

Rawal and Verma close out the chase

Pratika Rawal was named player of the match for an unbeaten 100 from 96 balls, her third ODI century, built around 15 boundaries.

She added 94 for the first wicket with Mandhana, who fell for 32, and then shared an unbroken stand with Shafali Verma, who finished on 64 not out from 33 balls with five fours and four sixes.

Rawal said afterwards that the innings came from a clear head rather than a plan. "When you know that you're middling the ball well, your shots are finding the gaps," she said, "it becomes easier because you're not very cluttered in your mind."

She had not realised the date matched the day of her first ODI hundred until it was pointed out to her before the innings. "I had no idea, to be very honest, that this was the day when I scored my first ODI 100," she said.

Charani sets up the win with the ball

The chase was straightforward because the bowling had been tight. Shree Charani returned career-best figures of 4-23, and Kranti Gaud took 3-33 as Zimbabwe lost their last wicket with one ball of the 50 overs remaining.

Deepti Sharma picked up two wickets and Verma one, so all ten Zimbabwe wickets fell to four bowlers.

"Coming into a different ground, I think the bowlers adapted really well, especially Shree Charani," Mandhana said, calling her the standout bowler of the day.

Where India want to be sharper

Mandhana was less satisfied with the middle period of Zimbabwe's innings, and with the catching. "We can tidy up our fielding; a few catches went down our way," she said.

She put part of it down to the switch of format. "We are playing fifty overs after a very long time," she said, noting that the side had played almost nothing but T20 cricket for seven months, and that India "could have had more intensity on the field" between the 20th and 35th overs.

That stretch is the obvious thing for India to correct on Sunday, and the obvious place for Zimbabwe to attack.

Zimbabwe need more than Biza

Beloved Biza top-scored with 62 from 92 balls in the opener and was the only batter on either side besides Rawal to pass fifty.

Nkomo chose to bat first on Friday and her side used almost all 50 overs to reach 197, a total India overhauled with more than 22 overs to spare.

Batting deeper for a target nearer 250, or taking an early wicket against an opening pair that put on 94 on Friday, is the realistic route to a result.

Squad note and officials

India are without Renuka Singh for the ODI leg. The BCCI said the fast bowler "is still building up the bowling volume required for the 50-over format at the BCCI Centre of Excellence", and named Jintimani Kalita, who was part of the T20I squad in Raipur, in her place.

Gayathri Venugopalan and Ankita Guha stand in the second ODI, with Anna Harris as television umpire, N Janani as reserve and GS Lakshmi as match referee.

The second ODI of the Muthoot FinCorp series starts at 2:00 PM IST at Kotambi Stadium, with the third and final match at the same venue on 28 October.

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