Shree Charani's 3-13 pegs Zimbabwe back to 121 for 5 in Mandhana's first ODI in charge

Shree Charani has taken three wickets for 13 runs in her first seven overs to leave Zimbabwe 121 for 5 at the halfway point of the first ODI in Vadodara

Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to bat at the Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara, and after 30 overs they had reached 121 for 5. The innings has been shaped almost entirely by India's left-arm spin.

Shree Charani bowled three maidens in an opening spell of seven overs that cost 13 runs and brought three wickets, an economy rate of 1.85. None of India's four other front-line bowlers has gone at less than four an over.

India came to the 50-over leg having swept the T20I series 3-0, but without once bowling Zimbabwe out across those three matches. This is also the first ODI series of Smriti Mandhana's tenure as full-time captain.

An early breakthrough and a measured rebuild

Zimbabwe lost their first wicket inside three overs. Kranti Gaud had Loryn Phiri caught and bowled for 1 from nine balls, and the score was 3 for 1.

Modester Mupachikwa and Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano then put the innings back together with a stand of 43. Mugeri-Tiripano made 21 from 27 balls with three fours before Charani trapped her lbw to make it 46 for 2 in the 11th over.

Mupachikwa batted on for 25 from 44 balls, four of them boundaries, until Charani had her caught by Gaud in the 15th over with Zimbabwe 55 for 3.

Charani turns the screw

Her three wickets came in three different ways — an lbw, a catch to Gaud and then a return catch — and the dot balls between them did as much damage. By the 29th over Zimbabwe's run rate had slipped to exactly four an over.

Charani came into this series as the top-ranked bowler in the ICC Women's T20I rankings, having set a record rating of 817 points in September, above the 806 Megan Schutt reached in 2018. She took 12 wickets at the Asia Cup, including 4-20 in the final against Sri Lanka.

Her method has drawn praise from former India seamer Shikha Pandey, who said during the Women's T20 World Cup that "she has been varying her pace really well" and "has been phenomenal with her lengths while keeping the stumps in play all the time".

Biza holds one end

Beloved Biza was unbeaten on 37 from 49 balls with four fours at the end of the 29th over. She was the pick of Zimbabwe's bowlers in the T20I series with six wickets, four of them in the final match.

Biza was given one reprieve, a chance going down behind the stumps in the 26th over when she had reached the twenties.

Sharne Mayers, who made 43 and 60 in the T20I series, fell for 8 from 12 balls, caught by Sayali Satghare off Deepti Sharma, leaving Zimbabwe 70 for 4 after 18 overs.

Nyasha Gwanzura then stayed with Biza for a partnership of 43, scoring 13 from 28 balls, before Charani took the return catch that made it 113 for 5 in the 28th over.

India's support bowlers keep it tight

Deepti Sharma bowled four overs for 17 and a wicket, with one maiden, and Satghare went wicketless but conceded only 25 from six.

Jintimani Kalita, named this week as cover for the ruled-out Renuka Singh, has been the most expensive of the six bowlers used, with 18 from three overs. Shafali Verma's two overs of off spin cost six.

Extras have contributed 10 to Zimbabwe's total, four of them leg byes and six wides.

What the series carries

This is the first of three ODIs, all in Vadodara, and the first assignment of Mandhana's full-time ODI captaincy, with Deepti Sharma as her deputy and Harmanpreet Kaur at number four.

Zimbabwe still have four batters to come, and on a surface giving the spinners this much, the question is whether Biza can carry them to a total their T20I batting suggested was within reach.

Zimbabwe Women: 121 for 5 after 30 overs, Beloved Biza not out; through 29 overs the bowling read Shree Charani 3-13, Kranti Gaud 1-33 and Deepti Sharma 1-17.

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