India Women vs Zimbabwe Women 2nd ODI: Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma Hit Centuries

India Women vs Zimbabwe Women 2nd ODI: Match Summary

India Women beat Zimbabwe Women by 121 runs in the second ODI at Vadodara on October 25, 2026. After choosing to bat, India posted 328/6 in 50 overs, built around centuries from Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma. Zimbabwe were dismissed for 207 in 48.5 overs while chasing 329. Vaishnavi Sharma’s four-wicket haul helped India finish the job and take a 2–0 lead in the three-match series.

The result followed India’s nine-wicket win in the opening ODI. The second match, however, required a different kind of performance: India’s top order lost early wickets, and the middle order had to rebuild before the team could put up a challenging total. Harmanpreet and Deepti supplied that recovery, while India’s bowlers ensured Zimbabwe never completed a successful chase.

India Women vs Zimbabwe Women 2nd ODI: Quick Scorecard

How India Recovered After an Early Setback

Zimbabwe’s new-ball bowlers strike early

India’s innings did not begin as smoothly as the final score might suggest. Captain Smriti Mandhana was dismissed for a duck, and Shafali Verma followed for eight. Losing both openers inside the first three overs put pressure on the middle order and gave Zimbabwe a chance to keep the scoring rate under control.

Pratika Rawal and Harmanpreet Kaur responded by rebuilding rather than forcing the pace. Rawal played a measured innings, using gaps and punishing loose deliveries. Her 61 from 67 balls gave India stability and allowed Harmanpreet time to settle into her innings.

Pratika Rawal gives the innings a foundation

Rawal’s contribution was important because India needed more than one batter to absorb the pressure created by the early wickets. Her 124-run partnership with Harmanpreet for the third wicket brought the innings back on track and shifted the pressure towards Zimbabwe’s bowling attack.

Rawal was eventually dismissed for 61, but the platform had been set. Harmanpreet was established, and India had recovered from a difficult start without losing the chance to build a total above 300.

Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma Build a Match-Defining Partnership

Harmanpreet Kaur produced the innings that set the tone for India’s total. She scored 126 from 121 balls, hitting 15 fours and controlling the innings through a combination of clean stroke play and calculated risk. Her eighth ODI century came after a challenging start for the team, making the knock especially valuable.

Deepti Sharma joined Harmanpreet after India lost another wicket and turned the recovery into a late-innings surge. The pair added 153 runs for the fifth wicket, forcing Zimbabwe to keep changing plans while India continued to find boundaries.

Deepti was particularly effective against deliveries that allowed her to sweep and work the ball into the leg side. She reached her century in the final over and finished unbeaten on 106 from 86 balls, with 15 fours. It was her second ODI hundred and an innings that ensured India’s recovery ended with a commanding total.

Why the partnership mattered

The fifth-wicket stand did more than add runs. It gave India a strong finish after the early losses and forced Zimbabwe to defend for the full 50 overs. Harmanpreet provided the innings’ anchor, while Deepti accelerated as the partnership developed. Their contrasting but complementary approaches helped India reach 328/6.

Zimbabwe did take wickets late in the innings, but the damage had already been done. Nomvelo Sibanda finished with two wickets, while the home side’s other bowlers struggled to prevent the established batters from scoring freely during the middle and final phases.

Zimbabwe’s Chase: A Competitive Start, but Too Much to Do

Chasing 329 required Zimbabwe to maintain a demanding scoring rate while protecting their wickets. The visitors made a start, but the target left limited room for a prolonged quiet period or a major middle-order collapse. India had enough runs on the board to keep attacking with the ball rather than relying only on containment.

Modester Mupachikwa was Zimbabwe’s leading contributor with 49 from 70 balls. Her innings helped the visitors resist India’s attack, but she fell just short of a half-century and Zimbabwe could not find the sustained partnerships needed to threaten the target.

The challenge was not simply about scoring quickly. Zimbabwe needed one or two batters to convert starts into a substantial innings, then carry the chase deep into the final overs. India’s bowlers kept taking wickets and prevented that kind of recovery. Zimbabwe were eventually all out for 207 in 48.5 overs, 121 runs short.

Vaishnavi Sharma Leads India’s Bowling Effort

Vaishnavi Sharma was the standout bowler in the second innings, finishing with four wickets for 39 runs. Her spell helped India turn a large first-innings total into a decisive result. Rather than allowing Zimbabwe to build a late partnership that could narrow the margin, India kept applying pressure and removed batters at important stages.

Taking four wickets in a 329-run chase is valuable not only for the scorecard but also for the team’s control of the match. Each breakthrough made Zimbabwe’s required rate harder to manage and reduced the number of established batters available to finish the innings.

India’s overall effort was well balanced: the batters created a substantial target, and the bowlers ensured that Zimbabwe could not turn a promising start into a serious challenge. The 121-run margin reflected that difference across the two innings.

Turning Point: Harmanpreet and Deepti Take Control

The most important phase came after India lost early wickets and then lost another batter during the rebuilding period. At that stage, Zimbabwe still had a chance to restrict India to a more manageable total. Harmanpreet and Deepti changed the match by adding 153 runs for the fifth wicket.

The stand allowed India to move past 300 and finish on 328/6. That score put Zimbabwe under pressure before the chase began: they had to score at more than six and a half runs per over while facing an attack backed by a large total. Once India’s bowlers kept taking wickets, the required chase became increasingly difficult.

Key Performances in India Women vs Zimbabwe Women 2nd ODI

Harmanpreet Kaur — 126 off 121 balls

Harmanpreet was the innings’ principal anchor. Her century helped India recover after the openers fell cheaply and provided the base for the later acceleration. Fifteen boundaries reflected her ability to keep the scoreboard moving without relying on sixes.

Deepti Sharma — 106 not out off 86 balls

Deepti turned a strong recovery into a commanding finish. Her unbeaten century came at a faster pace than Harmanpreet’s innings and kept India scoring deep into the 50th over. The 153-run fifth-wicket partnership was central to the result.

Pratika Rawal — 61 off 67 balls

Rawal’s half-century was the bridge between the early wickets and the major partnership. Her innings helped prevent India from losing control of the match in the powerplay and gave Harmanpreet time to build a substantial score.

Vaishnavi Sharma — 4/39

Vaishnavi delivered the leading bowling performance of the match. Her four wickets helped prevent Zimbabwe from sustaining a chase that required a consistent scoring rate throughout the innings.

Why India Women Won the Second ODI

• A strong middle-order recovery: After losing two early wickets, India rebuilt through Pratika Rawal and Harmanpreet Kaur.
• A decisive fifth-wicket stand: Harmanpreet and Deepti added 153 runs, lifting India to 328/6.
• Two centuries at the right time: Harmanpreet’s 126 and Deepti’s unbeaten 106 gave India both stability and acceleration.
• Wickets during the chase: Vaishnavi Sharma’s four-wicket haul helped India dismiss Zimbabwe for 207.

Series Impact and What Comes Next

The 121-run win gave India a 2–0 lead in the three-match ODI series, following their nine-wicket victory in the first match. India had already secured the series with one game remaining, but the second ODI offered useful batting time to players in the middle order and another opportunity for the bowling unit to work with a substantial target.

For Zimbabwe, the match highlighted two areas to address before the final ODI: taking advantage of early wickets with the ball and building longer partnerships in a demanding chase. The visitors did not need to match India’s scoring rate from the outset, but they needed more batters to turn starts into substantial contributions.

The third ODI is scheduled for October 28, 2026, in Vadodara. India will look to close the series with another complete performance, while Zimbabwe will aim to finish the tour with a stronger showing.

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Final Verdict

India Women turned an uneven start into a convincing win through a strong middle-order partnership and disciplined bowling. Harmanpreet Kaur’s 126 gave the innings its backbone, Deepti Sharma’s unbeaten 106 provided the finishing push, and Vaishnavi Sharma’s four wickets helped complete the job. The 121-run victory secured the series at 2–0 and gave India another strong result ahead of the final ODI.

Sources

• BCCI — India Women vs Zimbabwe Women, 2nd ODI match centre
• Cricket World — Match scorecard and innings details
• Outlook India — Deepti Sharma’s ODI century