Published: May 11, 2017, 06:57 PM (IST)
Edited: May 11, 2017, 06:57 PM (IST)
Yet another game, yet another win for Indian women, and for once the limelight was away from Jhulan Goswami. Match 6 of the Women’s Quadrangular Series at the North-West University No. 1 Ground, Potchefstroom was not an international affair since Zimbabwe Women do not have ODI status. India inflicted a 9-wicket win over the struggling Zimbabwe side, who have now won only a game from their three outings. India, on the other hand, are dominating the points table having registered wins in all 3 games. FULL BLOG OF IND W vs ZIM W
India rested Jhulan for this game but the bowling department did not lack the firepower. Winning the toss and electing to bat, Zimbabwe lost their first wicket in the sixth over when pacer Mansi Joshi trapped Chipo Mugeri LBW. Zimbabwe kept losing wickets at regular intervals till the 17th over when they found themselves tottering at 54 for 6. Precious Marange tried to counterattack but her innings was cut short by Shikha Pandey for a 13-ball 17.
Having managed 78 in their tournament opener against South Africa Women, it seemed that the African side would slide to a new low but Pellagia Mujaji and Josephine Nkomo added some resistance.
The duo batted for 69 balls, adding just 20 before Harmanpreet Kaur broke the stand. It was a matter of time before the Indian girls cleaned up the Zimbabwean tail and bowled them out for 93. It was a spinners’ day out for India: left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad claimed 3 for 25 while off-spinner Deepti Sharma had 2 for 14.
The chase was a formality, but India received early hiccups when Nkomo sent back the hard-hitting Veda Krishnamurthy with the third ball of the innings. Harmanpreet was then joined by Mona Meshram at the crease and both guided India to a comfortable 9-wicket win. Nkomo bowled unchanged and remained the only Zimbabwean bowler to claim a wicket. India next play the Irish girls on May 15.
Brief scores:
Zimbabwe Women 93 in 38.4 overs (Precious Marange 17, Josephine Nkomo 17*; Rajeshwari Gayakwad 3 for 25, Deepti Sharma 2 for 14) lost to India Women 94 for 1 in 18.3 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 38*, Mona Meshram 46*) by 9 wickets with 189 balls to spare.
