India Women made an early breakthrough in the third ODI against Zimbabwe Women in Vadodara, with Sayali Satghare dismissing Loryn Phiri for a duck.
The medium-pacer generated sharp inward movement, found the inside edge of Phiri’s bat, and wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia completed a smart catch behind the stumps.
Phiri departed after facing just six balls, giving India the perfect start. Star Sports summed up the dismissal by saying: “BREAKTHROUGH! Sayali Satghare gets the ball swinging in, finds Loryn Phiri’s inside edge, and Yastika Bhatia does the rest!” The early wicket set the tone for India’s disciplined bowling effort.
Zimbabwe lose early wickets after choosing to bat
Zimbabwe Women won the toss and opted to bat first at the BCA Stadium in Kotambi. However, the visitors struggled to build partnerships after Phiri’s dismissal. Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano scored four before being caught by Shafali Verma off Kranti Gaud, while Beloved Biza managed just one run before falling to Vaishnavi Sharma.
Modester Mupachikwa offered some resistance, scoring 37 off 48 balls, including seven fours. However, Vaishnavi ended her innings with a stumping by Yastika Bhatia. Chiedza Dhururu scored 20 before becoming Vaishnavi’s third wicket. Vaishnavi then dismissed Michelle Mavunga, who scored 6 off 9 balls.
At 30 overs, Zimbabwe were struggling at 105/6, with Josephine Nkomo batting on 27 and Nyasha Gwanzura on zero.
Vaishnavi Sharma leads India’s bowling attack
Vaishnavi was India’s leading wicket-taker at that stage, having claimed four wickets for 29 runs in 8 overs. Satghare also impressed, conceding just nine runs in her four overs while picking up one wicket. Kranti Gaud chipped in with a breakthrough as India kept Zimbabwe’s scoring rate below 3.6 runs per over.
The Indian bowlers maintained pressure by taking wickets at regular intervals and limiting the visitors’ scoring opportunities.
India and Zimbabwe Playing XIs
India Women: Pratika Rawal, Smriti Mandhana (c), Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Sayali Satghare, Jintimani Kalita, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma.
Zimbabwe Women: Modester Mupachikwa (wk), Loryn Phiri, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, Beloved Biza, Josephine Nkomo (c), Nyasha Gwanzura, Chiedza Dhururu, Michelle Mavunga, Nomvelo Sibanda, Francisca Chipare, Olinder Chare.
India look to complete a series clean sweep
India had already secured the three-match series before the final ODI and were aiming to finish the contest with another win. With Zimbabwe in trouble at 105/6 after 30 overs, India were in a strong position at that stage.
Satghare’s early strike and Vaishnavi’s four-wicket spell had put the hosts on top, while Zimbabwe needed a recovery from their remaining batters to post a competitive total.