Mandhana’s India bowl first in Raipur after winning series opener

Zimbabwe elected to bat against an unchanged India women’s team in the second T20I in Raipur. India won the series opener by four wickets after recovering from 19/4 through an 82-run partnership between debutant Niki Prasad and Deepti Sharma

Raipur: India women were asked to bowl first in the second T20I of the three-match series against Zimbabwe at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium here on Sunday.

Both teams retained their playing XIs for the second match, two days after the series opener was played at the same venue.

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Zimbabwe captain Josephine Nkomo won the toss and elected to bat, seeking to build on her team’s performance in the first T20I, in which Zimbabwe tested India during a chase of 115. However, she said she wanted more runs from her middle-order batters.

“We’re looking to have a bat. Last time we had a good start, and we’re hoping to carry it forward. (Need more runs through that middle order?) Yeah, definitely. So today the plan is just to try to rotate the strike more and just turn those ones into twos, and I’m sure we’ll be good to go.

“(Can you replicate that performance?) Hopefully, if we go through our process well, we should be able to replicate it. Of course it was a good feeling, and I think it gives our bowlers a bit of confidence. (Are you ready to bowl?) Definitely. No changes,” Nkomo said at the toss.

India captain Smriti Mandhana said she had also wanted to field first.

“Well, looking to field first today as well. Of course, as a team, we’d like to have a convincing chase last time, so I’ll try and get better in this game,” Mandhana said at the toss.

She said the pitch and conditions appeared similar to those in the first match, but India would aim to bowl with greater discipline.

“Looks like a similar wicket we played on in the first match, similar conditions. Bowlers did a good job, but we’ll look to be more disciplined with the ball,” she added.

Mandhana also said India would look to improve their batting after losing four wickets for just 19 runs in the previous match.

“Yeah, for sure. I mean, as a batting unit, we pride ourselves on having a really strong batting unit, which we definitely have. So we’ll definitely look to get better in that department. (Any changes?) No, we’ll be the same XI,” she added.

Mandhana, who is beginning her full-time captaincy role, said the team was focused on playing good cricket rather than looking ahead to the prospect of sealing the series.

“Well, I’m really looking forward to playing some good cricket. I think we don’t do anything in terms of thinking about what’s going to happen after the match. We want to come here out there, play the best cricket. So I’m just looking forward to that one,” she said.

India were tested in their first-ever international meeting with Zimbabwe in the opening T20I two days ago. Chasing 115, India were reduced to 19/4 after their top four batters were dismissed for single-digit scores.

However, debutant Niki Prasad and veteran all-rounder Deepti Sharma steadied the innings with a composed 82-run partnership, guiding India to a four-wicket victory.

Niki remained unbeaten on 39 off 45 balls, while Deepti was dismissed for 49. India eventually crossed the target with 26 balls to spare.

Playing XIs

India women: Smriti Mandhana (c), Shafali Verma, Anushka Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Niki Prasad, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Arundhati Reddy, Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma, Kranti Ga.

Zimbabwe women: Kelis Ndhlovu, Beloved Biza, Modester Mupachikwa (wk), Sharne Mayers, Nyasha Gwanzura, Michelle Mavunga, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, Francisca Chipare, Josephine Nkomo (c), Olinder Chare, Tendai Makusha.