India women have kicked off their new era under Smriti Mandhana on a strong note as they secured a series win against Zimbabwe following a cakewalk win in the second T20I at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium here on Sunday.
Unbeaten Captain Mandhana (47* from 25 balls) and her deputy Shafali Verma (55 from 25 balls) starred in a meagre 103-run chase as the Women in Blue romped home in no time with the bat, registering a win with nine wickets in hand and 67 balls to spare.
This was India's 17th T20I win of the year, which is now their most in a calendar year yet, going past their previous best of 16 they had won in 2018. This is now also the biggest win in terms of balls left while chasing 100-plus targets in Women T20Is. The previous best was for West Indies women, who had hunted down 107 against Zimbabwe women earlier in Harare with 65 balls in hand. India have now taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series and still have one match in hand, which will be played on October 20.
The Women in Blue made light work of the chase as Shafali and Mandhana went all guns blazing from the first over itself. Shafali hit a four and a six in the first over of Nyasha Gwanzura, who had picked three wickets in the previous match. She also hit a four in the next over of Tendai Makusha before Smriti Mandhana went for back-to-back fours in the third as the hosts blasted to 40/0 from he first four overs.
Mandhana hit four straight fours in the fifth over of Gwanzura, properly putting her to the sword in an over that went for 21 runs. India bossed the powerplay as they were 76/0 after six overs. Verma got to her fifty off just 24 balls in the eighth over with a six over deep mid-wicket before she was caught out on the next ball. However, it wasn't long before Mandhana finished the job with a six in the ninth over to take the Women in Blue home.
Earlier, India starred with the ball despite a few mistakes in the field. Niki Prasad hogged the limelight once again as India women restricted Zimbabwe women to 102/8 in the first innings. Prasad, who made a stellar debut with a match-winning unbeaten 39 in the first match, picked 2-7 in her two overs during the second match against Zimbabwe.
She picked up a wicket off her first ball in international cricket and then another on the next ball. Prasad came close to picking up a hat-trick but was denied when her off-spin missed the leg-stump on an LBW appeal. Prasad has also become the first Indian women cricketer to take a wicket off her first career ball in T20I cricket.
Pacers Kranti Gaud, Nandni Sharma and spinners Deepti Sharma and Sree Charani also scalped a wicket each as the visitors could not even get past the 114/5 they had made in the first T20I. India now have a 2-0 lead and will fancy their chances of a series sweep when the two sides meet again in two days' time.
Brief Scores:
Zimbabwe 102/8 in 20 overs (Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano 34, Josephine Nkomo 27; Niki Prasad 2/7, Deepti Sharma 1/13) lost to India 103/1 in 8.5 overs (Shafali Verma 55, Smriti Mandhana 47 not out; Beloved Biza 1/9) by nine wickets.
2nd T20I: Mandhana kicks off captaincy era with series win over Zimbabwe in Raipur
