Raipur, Read. Indian women's cricket team defeated Zimbabwe in a one-sided fashion in the second T-20 match and captured the three-match series. In the match played on Sunday, India defeated Zimbabwe by nine wickets.
First, the bowlers performed brilliantly and restricted Zimbabwe to 102 runs for eight wickets. After this, on the basis of stormy innings of openers Shefali Verma and Smriti Mandhana, India scored 104 runs after losing one wicket in just 8.5 overs. With this victory, India achieved an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series.
Shefali-Mandhana shocked Zimbabwe
Shefali Verma and Smriti Mandhana gave a great start to the Indian team chasing the target of 103 runs. Both the batsmen put pressure on the Zimbabwean bowlers and added 96 runs in just 7.5 overs. On the basis of aggressive batting, India captured the match in the power play itself.
Shefali Verma played an explosive inning of 55 runs in 25 balls. He hit six fours and four sixes in his innings. Shefali completed her half-century in just 24 balls. After his dismissal, Smriti Mandhana completed the formalities of the victory.
India won the first series under the captaincy of Smriti Mandhana.
Smriti Mandhana scored unbeaten 47 runs to lead India to victory. Facing 25 balls, he hit six fours and two sixes. The excellent partnership of Shefali and Smriti made the match completely one-sided. Under the leadership of full-time captain Smriti Mandhana, the Indian team performed brilliantly in this series. With two consecutive wins, India has taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Bowlers tightened their grip under the leadership of Nikki Prasad
Earlier, the Zimbabwe team, which came to bat after winning the toss, could not play openly in front of the Indian bowlers. Indian bowlers maintained pressure on the opposition team by taking wickets at regular intervals. Zimbabwe team could score only 102 runs for eight wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. Nikki Prasad bowled brilliantly and took two wickets. Kranti Gaur, Nandani Sharma, Deepti Sharma and Shri Charani took one wicket each. Indian bowlers limited the chances of scoring runs with tight line-length.
Mugeri-Tiripano and captain Ankomo scored important runs
For Zimbabwe, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano scored the highest 34 runs, while captain Josephine Ankomo contributed 27 runs. Apart from these two, no other batsman could play a big innings. 12 runs were also added as extra to the team's account. The disciplined performance of the Indian bowlers and aggressive batting of the opening batsmen completely turned the tide of the match in favor of India. Now the Indian team will be eyeing a clean sweep with a win in the third match of the series.