India Women launched Smriti Mandhana’s tenure as full-time captain with a hard-fought four-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the opening T20I of their three-match series at the Shaheed Veer Narayan International Stadium in Raipur on Friday.
Chasing a modest target of 115, the hosts found themselves in early trouble at 19 for 4 inside four overs after a top-order collapse triggered by Nyasha Gwanzura’s three wickets. However, a composed 82-run partnership between Deepti Sharma and debutant Niki Prasad steered the team to 116 for 6 in 15.4 overs, sealing the win with 26 balls to spare and giving India a 1-0 series lead.
Prasad, the 20-year-old who captained India to the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup title in 2025, produced a mature unbeaten 39 off 35 balls on her senior international debut. She struck the winning boundary with a drive past mid-off in the 16th over after receiving her T20I cap from Mandhana before the match. Deepti Sharma played the more aggressive role, scoring 49 off 37 balls with eight boundaries before falling one short of a half-century.
Zimbabwe posted 114 for 5 in their 20 overs, with Sharne Mayers contributing an unbeaten 43 and Kelis Ndhlovu scoring 42. Nandani Sharma returned figures of 2 for 11 to help restrict the visitors. Gwanzura’s early breakthroughs gave Zimbabwe genuine hope of an upset in the first bilateral series between the two sides, but the fifth-wicket stand between Prasad and Deepti proved decisive. The partnership was India’s highest for the fifth wicket or lower in T20Is.
Mandhana, who took over the captaincy across formats after Harmanpreet Kaur stepped down earlier this month, won the toss and elected to bowl. The victory marks a positive start to her leadership in a series that also includes two more T20Is in Raipur followed by three ODIs. Prasad’s composed performance on debut, coming on the back of strong showings for India A against Australia A, has already strengthened her case for a longer run in the senior side.
The result underlines the depth in India’s batting as the team looks ahead to major tournaments, including the Women’s Champions Trophy and the T20 World Cup. The second T20I is scheduled for October 18 in Raipur.
