India beat Zimbabwe by 92 runs in Raipur to sweep T20 series under Smriti Mandhana
Harmanpreet Kaur's 91 and Shafali Verma's 69 set up a 217-run target as India won the third T20 and completed a 3-0 clean sweep.
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India beat Zimbabwe by 92 runs in the third and final T20 match played in Raipur, completing a clean sweep of the series. It is Smriti Mandhana's first win since she became captain.
India won the toss and chose to bat first. The decision proved right, as India set Zimbabwe a big target of 217 runs. The aggressive batting of Shafali Verma and Harmanpreet Kaur was behind the score.
Shafali Verma and Anushka Sharma opened the innings for India. Anushka was out for 28, while Nikki Prasad managed only 9 runs. Shafali scored a fine half-century and was out for 69. Richa Ghosh returned after scoring just 1 run. Deepti Sharma, Arundhati Reddy and Prema Rawat also could not play good innings in the match. With that, former captain Harmanpreet Kaur took charge and played a fine innings of 91.
Zimbabwe's bowlers bowled well in the first few overs. Nomvelo Sibanda dismissed Anushka and Nyasha Gwanzura sent Nikki Prasad back to the pavilion. Priya Bizha took Shafali Verma's wicket. In the final overs too the Zimbabwe bowlers tried to bowl tightly, but Harmanpreet kept up her aggressive approach. Priya Bizha took the most wickets, three.
Chasing 217, Zimbabwe made a poor start. Kelis Ndhlovu and Modester Mupachikwa opened the innings, but Ndhlovu was out without scoring. Mupachikwa also departed after scoring just 1 run. The Indian bowlers had given two big early blows. Kranti Goud and Nandini Sharma took two wickets each for India.
Sharne Mayers then tried to fight. She hit a fine half-century and was out for 60. Nikki Prasad dismissed Mayers. Nyasha Gwanzura returned to the pavilion after scoring 2 runs. In the end, Zimbabwe finished 92 runs short of the target.
The Indian women's team comprised Smriti Mandhana (captain), Shafali Verma, Anushka Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Nikki Prasad, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wicketkeeper), Arundhati Reddy, Shree Charani, Nandini Sharma and Kranti Goud. The Zimbabwe team comprised Kelis Ndhlovu, Beloved Biza, Modester Mupachikwa (wicketkeeper), Sharne Mayers, Nyasha Gwanzura, Michelle Mavunga, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, Francesca Chipare, Josephine Nkomo (captain), Olinder Chare and Tendai Makusha.
