Photo: Nyasha Gwanzura celebrates a wicket at Harare Sports Club, via ICC.
Three days after being on the wrong end of a record innings, Zimbabwe's women turned the series around. The Lady Chevrons beat West Indies by four wickets at Harare Sports Club on Sunday, their first ever One Day International win over the Caribbean side, and it came with 55 balls to spare. The result levels the three-match series at 1-1 and gives Zimbabwe their first points in the ICC Women's Championship.
Gwanzura breaks the middle order
West Indies won the toss and batted, and at 56 for 1 they looked comfortable. Then it fell apart. The ICC's match report says the visitors lost six wickets for 32 runs to slide to 88 for 7, with Nyasha Gwanzura doing most of the damage on her way to career-best figures of 4 for 33. Michelle Mavunga added three wickets and Francisca Chipare two, and West Indies were bowled out for 139 inside 40 overs.
Stafanie Taylor fought hardest for the visitors with 47, while captain Hayley Matthews made 26. Trinidad broadcaster CNC3 called it a shoddy batting performance, and the scorecard backs that up, with five West Indies batters falling for four or fewer.
Gwanzura told 263Chat the bowlers kept it simple. The plan, she said, was to bowl consistently, avoid trying too many things and trust the fielders.
A steady chase, then a wobble
Modester Mupachikwa (38) and Kelis Ndhlovu (30) put on 67 for the first wicket to take most of the pressure off the chase. There was a brief scare when Zimbabwe lost three wickets for three runs, but captain Josephine Nkomo made 30 and Gwanzura, finishing what she started with the ball, stayed unbeaten on 18 to see the side home with 140 for 6 in 40.5 overs. She was named player of the match, and called the win "a big confidence boost".
A turnaround from Thursday
The margin looks bigger alongside the first match. In that game Matthews scored 182, a record for a West Indies batter in women's ODIs according to India TV, and Zimbabwe lost by 99 runs. Holding the same batting line-up to 139 three days later is a big shift, and it follows a difficult month in which South Africa swept the Lady Chevrons 5-0 in a T20I series in Bulawayo.
The team is also only weeks into a new coaching setup. Zimbabwe Cricket appointed New Zealander Mark Coles, who has previously coached Scotland and Pakistan's women's teams, on 9 September, with ZC chairman Tavengwa Mukuhlani saying he fitted the board's vision for growing the game in the country.
Why it matters
This is a young ODI side. Zimbabwe's women only gained permanent ODI status in 2021, and Sunday's result was their first win in seven ODIs this year. The ICC notes this is only their second ODI win over a Full Member nation, and it lifts them to ninth of the 11 teams in the 2026 to 2029 Championship, the competition that decides direct qualification for the next Women's Cricket World Cup.
Points against a side like West Indies are hard to come by, and every one counts in a league that long. With the decider at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday, 30 September, the Lady Chevrons now have a chance at a first ever series win over West Indies, and on home soil.
Sources
- Bowlers deliver in historic Zimbabwe win, ICC
- Gwanzura Stars as Zimbabwe Women Stun West Indies, 263Chat
- Gwanzura leads Zimbabwe Women to historic win over lacklustre Windies, CNC3
- Hayley Matthews sets new record for West Indies, as visitors beat Zimbabwe by 99 runs in first ODI, India TV
- Zimbabwe Cricket appoints Mark Coles as Lady Chevrons coach, NewZimbabwe.com
