Smriti Mandhana leads India in second T20I against Zimbabwe in Raipur
India aim to avoid top-order collapse when they face Zimbabwe in the second women's T20I in Raipur on Sunday.
Smriti Mandhana will lead India in the second women's T20I against Zimbabwe at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Sunday. India won the opening match by four wickets after recovering from 19 for four. Zimbabwe scored 114 for five after batting first.
Captain Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Anushka Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur were all dismissed for single-digit scores in the first match. Off-spinner Nyasha Gwanzura took three wickets in the powerplay. Deepti Sharma and debutant Niki Prasad added 82 runs to rescue the innings.
Deepti Sharma backed India's aggressive approach and said the top order would learn from the first match. Niki Prasad, who captained India to the 2025 Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup title, made her senior debut. Zimbabwe opener Kelis Ndhlovu and Sharne Mayers provided the main resistance in the first match.
CricHubb Take
The early collapse exposed the gap between India's aggressive intent and execution under pressure, a test Mandhana must solve before the Champions Trophy.