Picture the scene. Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma have scored centuries to power India to a big win. Now ask yourself: which of the two blazed her way to triple figures? If you said Harmanpreet, your instinct failed you.
On a sweltering Sunday at the BCA Stadium in Kotambi, the 2nd ODI against Zimbabwe turned the script on its head. A restrained, almost serene Harmanpreet played the craftsman while Deepti played the destroyer as they laid the foundations of India’s 121-run win.
The victory sealed the series, handing India an unassailable 2-0 lead over the Lady Chevrons.
But before that, Harmanpreet joined Pratika Rawal with India stuttering at 19/2 in the third over, having lost Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma to the erratic short-ball ploy of Nomvelo Sibanda.
It was hard to ignore the feeling of deja vu, with flashes of that first T20I in Raipur where Zimbabwe reduced India to 19/4 before Deepti turned the game on its head.
Pratika and Harmanpreet stitched a crucial 118-ball 124-run stand. The former was in sublime touch, fresh from a hundred in the opening ODI, as she struck four boundaries and two sixes. She looked set for another ton before Nyasha Gwanzura drew her out for a big shot before deceiving her with a drop in pace. Tejal Hasabnis followed her soon after.
But Harmanpreet remained unfazed, aided generously by a fearless Deepti who arrived like she was stepping in for a net session. Thirty two of the first 47 runs this pair stitched came from Deepti’s audacious shots, predominantly on the legside.
Harmanpreet, meanwhile, ditched power for finesse, whipping out a catalogue of puritanical drives and cuts, punishing Zimbabwe on the offside.
She chipped away at every run, made Deepti grudgingly run the twos when they were tight, and even scampered a double to earn her ton. There were no tears, like the 91 she scored in the 3rd T20I drew out of her. There wasn’t even a raise of the bat.
After Harmanpreet fell in the 47th, Deepti slowed down but managed to get her second ODI century, nine years after her first, in the final over to help India set an intimidating 329-run target.
Zimbabwe players, pulling through the heat and aching bodies riddled with niggles, couldn’t maintain their lofty fielding standards in this fixture – Harmanpreet alone was given three reprieves. The visitor was tentative with its bowling changes, playing right into the hands of a comfortable home side.
Modester Mupachikwa smacked Sayali Satghare for two fours, with no nerves about a gargantuan chase facing the side shown on her face. But Loryn Phiri struggled at the other end, managing just six runs in 23 balls before N. Sree Charani put her out of her misery.
Vaishnavi Sharma’s guile and persistence helped break the Zimbabwean resistance with the bat.
| Photo Credit:
X @BCCIWomen
Vaishnavi Sharma’s guile and persistence helped break the Zimbabwean resistance with the bat.
| Photo Credit:
X @BCCIWomen
Mupachikwa then found an ally in Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, the duo showing the reigning world champion no respect as they stitched a crucial 69-run partnership to help Zimbabwe chip 100 runs off the target in just 19 overs.
India’s dearth of wicket-taking bowlers crept up to spook the side once more, before Sayali, desperately throwing every variation at the opponent, finally succeeded in breaching Mugeri-Tiripano’s defence.
It then took Vaishnavi Sharma’s guile and persistence to break the Zimbabwean resistance as she removed Mupachikwa to register her maiden ODI wicket, before also claiming the scalps of Beloved Biza, Michelle Mavunga and skipper Josephine Nkomo in a cluster.
“Deepti, jaldi khatam kar do [finish it off quickly],” came Richa Ghosh’s orders from behind the stumps, and her Bengal teammate gladly obliged as she clawed through the tail, before Jintimani Kalita, too, opened her account in the format.
While Zimbabwe ticked one box by crossing 200, its bid to last the full 50 overs will have to wait its turn.
Published on Oct 25, 2026
