Vaishnavi five-for and Rawal, Shafali fifties power India to 3-0 sweep

October 28, 2026
9:24 pm

India 133 for 2 (Rawal 59*, Shafali 51*, Sibanda 1-18) beat Zimbabwe 131 (Mupachikwa 37, Vaishnavi 5-39, Satghare 2-11, Gaud 2-23) by eight wickets

It was the third mismatch in as many games of the ODI series between India and Zimbabwe. Left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma, who made her debut in the second match, bagged 5 for 39. Zimbabwe eventually slipped to 131 all-out, a total which India chased down with eight wickets and 33 overs to spare, courtesy Shafali Verma‘s explosive 51* off 26 balls and Pratika Rawal‘s rapid 59* from 56 deliveries. Just like the T20Is, India also swept the ODI series 3-0.

After restricting Zimbabwe to their lowest total in this series, India had plenty of room to experiment. Yastika Bhatia – playing in an ODI after two years – opened the innings but was dismissed first ball. Harleen Deol was playing her first game of the series as well, batting to No. 3, but she only scored a run-a-ball 19. Shafali was pushed down the order and batted at No. 4 for the first time in her career. India didn’t even need captain Smriti Mandhana with the bat.

India’s win was set up early with the ball. Zimbabwe, who had already lost the series, opted to bat, but crawled to 30 for 3 in the first ten overs. Their new-ball bowlers Kranti Gaud and Sayali Satghare swung the ball, and bowled tight lines in and around the off stump. They enjoyed some luck with their respective wickets, but that had to do with how many dot balls they had piled up on Zimbabwe. Bowling along with Jintimani Kalita and Vaishnavi, India combined to bowl 46 dots in just Zimbabwe’s powerplay.

Early in the powerplay, Loryn Phiri inside-edged to Bhatia off Satghare for a six-ball duck, while Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano went chasing at a wide ball outside off to slash to Shafali for an eight-ball 4. Zimbabwe were 12 for 2 in three overs, and Vaishnavi, brought into the attack in the tenth over, struck straight away. Beloved Biza, not wanting let the spinner settle, advanced down first ball, but chipped to mid-on for 1 off 16 balls.

The first three Zimbabwe wickets fell in search of runs, which India’s bowlers never allowed to flow freely. Opening batter Modester Mupachikwa, though, wanted to fight. She hit Vaishnavi for two boundaries in the 12th over – the first was off a free hit – and drove Kalita for four more in the next over.

But the runs never came from the other end. Josephine Nkomo struggled to 4 off her first 18 balls, and that forced Mupachikwa to take the risks. She chipped Vaishnavi for four over mid-on in the 16th over, but three balls later, was stumped while looking to repeat the trick. Mupachikwa scored 37 off 48 deliveries, with her seven boundaries and strike rate of 77 standing out.

Nkomo and Chiedza Dhururu took their time for their fifth-wicket stand. Kalita dismissed Nkomo, when on 11, off a no-ball. At the other end, Deepti Sharma had sneaked in a spell of 4-1-7-0 by bowling full and tossing the ball up. Seeing Deepti do well, India brought part-time offspinner Shafali into the attack as well, while Vaishnavi kept teasing the batters during her own spell, bowling slow and getting some turn. But it was Vaishnavi’s dip that forced Dhururu into a leading edge to extra cover on 20 off 39 deliveries.