IND vs ZIM, 1st T20I: Deepti, Niki star as India begins Smriti captaincy era with nervy win

Niki Prasad (left) and Deepti Sharma (right) added 82 for India. | Photo Credit: X (@BCCIWomen)

A gritty partnership between Deepti Sharma and debutant Niki Prasad was enough to ensure that Smriti Mandhana’s captaincy tenure began on a winning note at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket in Raipur on Friday.

After Smriti won the toss and opted to field first, Zimbabwe proved a resolute opponent. Kelis Ndhlovu and Sharne Mayers both played useful hands to help it reach 114 for five, before sharp PowerPlay bowling and fielding saw it reduce India to 19 for four in the chase.

Ndhlovu and Mayers innings’ dominated the first and second halves of Zimbabwe’s batting innings as it recovered well from losing Beloved Biza lbw to Kranti Gaud in the first over of the match.

The former put up a half-century stand with wicketkeeper Modester Mupachikwa, before the latter injected some momentum through the second half of the innings.

For India, N. Sree Charani continued her impressive form with figures of one for 26 in four overs while Nandni Sharma was the pick of the bowlers with two for 11 from her allocation.

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Nonetheless, India would have backed itself to haul down 115, but found itself staring at an upset courtesy of Nyasha Gwanzura and Michelle Mavunga’s new-ball spell.

Gwanzura accounted for openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma, and the returning Anushka Sharma, while Mavunga removed Harmanpreet Kaur as India collapsed to 19 for four in the first three overs.

However, it was pulled out of the quagmire by a calm partnership of 82 between Deepti and Niki. Deepti, the senior batter, was the aggressor and used her feet to fine effect as she carted away a series of boundaries to get India ahead of the rate, while Niki played a composed supporting innings, rotating the strike well after a slow start.

The duo got India within 15 runs of its target before Deepti fell to Olinder Chare attempting the sweep. Richa Ghosh fell as well, but Niki finished the game with a straight drive down the ground with 4.2 overs to spare.