India chased down 103 in just 8.5 overs in Raipur, handing Smriti Mandhana her first series win as full-time captain
India Women clinched the T20I series against Zimbabwe in emphatic style on Sunday, October 18, crushing the visitors by nine wickets in the second match in Raipur. After their bowlers held Zimbabwe to 102 for 8, openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana ended the contest with 67 balls left. The win gives India an unbeatable 2-0 lead and hands Mandhana her first series victory since taking over as full-time captain.
A complete turnaround from the opener
The result looked very different from Friday’s first T20I. On that night, India slipped to 19 for 4 while chasing just 115. They needed an 82-run rescue stand between Deepti Sharma and debutant Niki Prasad to get home. Sunday brought no such drama. India were sharp with the ball and fearless with the bat from the first over to the last.
Zimbabwe captain Josephine Nkomo chose to bat first on a slow, grippy Raipur surface. It proved a tough place to score. Zimbabwe faced 71 dot balls in their innings and never found any momentum.
Disciplined Indian bowling
At the toss, Mandhana said she wanted her bowlers to be more disciplined. They delivered. New-ball pair Kranti Gaud and Nandani Sharma kept hitting a good length, using movement in the air and grip off the pitch. Zimbabwe crawled to 20 for 1 in the powerplay.
Nandani struck early, removing opener Kelis Ndhlovu for an 11-ball duck. Ndhlovu had top-scored with 42 in the first game, so her early exit was a big blow. Fellow opener Beloved Biza fell soon after the powerplay. She charged at Deepti Sharma and picked out Harmanpreet Kaur at extra cover.
Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano led the fightback. She used the reverse sweep well, hitting back-to-back boundaries off spinner Shree Charani in the tenth over. She made 34 off 32 balls and should have gone earlier. Shafali dropped a simple catch off Charani in the 12th over, and Gaud put down another chance at long-on in the next over.
Niki Prasad’s dream start with the ball
The breakthrough came from an unlikely source. Niki Prasad, who starred with the bat on debut two days earlier, was brought on for the 15th over. She struck with her very first ball to remove Mugeri-Tiripano. With her next legitimate delivery, she dismissed Nyasha Gwanzura.
Prasad became only the fourth bowler in women’s international cricket to take wickets with her first two legitimate balls. She finished with outstanding figures of 2 for 7.
Nkomo battled to 27 off 35 balls in the death overs, which helped Zimbabwe cross 100. Mandhana used seven bowlers, and five of them took at least one wicket.
Shafali and Mandhana in fast-forward
If Zimbabwe’s batting was stuck in second gear, India’s openers started in top gear and never slowed down. India raced to 76 for 0 by the end of the powerplay.
Mandhana used her feet to disrupt the bowlers’ lengths. The highlight came in the fifth over, when she hit offspinner Nyasha Gwanzura for four fours in a row, finding the boundary all around the ground. Shafali then took strike for the last ball of that over and lofted an inside-out shot over deep extra cover.
The pair added 96 for the first wicket, and 84 of those runs came in boundaries. Shafali smashed 55 off just 24 balls, with six fours and four sixes. She was caught at long-on one ball after reaching her fifty, with India needing only seven more runs.
Mandhana finished the job in style. She remained unbeaten on 47 off 25 balls and sealed the win with a clean six over extra cover.
Brief scores
India Women 104 for 1 (Shafali Verma 55, Smriti Mandhana 47*) beat Zimbabwe Women 102 for 8 (Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano 34, Josephine Nkomo 27, Niki Prasad 2-7) by nine wickets.
What it means for India
This series marks the start of a new era for India Women, with Mandhana now leading the side full-time. Two wins from two games is a confident start. The emergence of Niki Prasad as a genuine all-round option is another big plus. India will still want to tighten up their catching, though, after two dropped chances on Sunday.
For Zimbabwe, who are playing their first bilateral series against India and are still searching for a T20I win this year, the challenge is clear. They must find ways to score faster against quality bowling.
