Raipur: Debutant Niki Prasad held her nerve to hit an unbeaten 39 while Deepti Sharma played a counter-attacking 49 as India recovered from a dramatic top-order collapse to beat Zimbabwe by four wickets in the first women's T20I in Raipur on Friday.
Chasing 115 at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Cricket Stadium, India got home with 26 balls to spare, but were made to work far harder than expected in Smriti Mandhana's first match as full-time captain.
After the first four wickets fell quickly, Deepti and Niki shared an 82-run partnership off 63 balls for the fifth wicket to help India survive an almighty scare. The duo were adept at placing their shots through the gaps and helped the hosts take a 1-0 lead in the three-game series.
Smriti began the chase with two boundaries in the opening over, but her dismissal sparked a stunning slide. Medium pacer Nyasha Gwanzura struck with her very first ball -- inducing a leading edge from Mandhana's attempted lap shot, and then had Anushka Sharma caught at point three deliveries later.
Michelle Mavunga had Harmanpreet Kaur caught off a tame flick in a wicket-maiden over, while Nyasha held on to a sharp return catch to dismiss Shafali Verma in the fourth over. At 19/4, India had lost their first four wickets inside four overs for the first time in a women's T20I. Zimbabwe, who had lost all 18 of their T20Is this year, suddenly sensed an extraordinary upset.
But Deepti and debutant Niki had other ideas. Deepti, the experienced left-hander, counter-attacked, stepping out to loft Nyasha for two boundaries in the sixth over, while Niki showed remarkable composure for a player in her first international innings.
The pair took 15 runs off Olinder Chare in the 10th over and punished Michelle for three fours in the 14-run 12th over to take the game away from Zimbabwe. Deepti fell agonisingly one run short of a half-century when she swept to short fine leg off Chare.
Richa Ghosh hit a six before falling to Beloved Biza, but Niki fittingly capped off the chase by driving Tendai Makusha for four to seal the win. Earlier, Zimbabwe reached 60/1 at the halfway mark, with Kelis Ndhlovu (42) looking particularly fluent, aided by some sloppy Indian fielding that included overthrows and missed run-outs.
But India's bowlers squeezed the scoring through the middle overs. Sree Charani returned with 1-14 from her four overs, while Nandani Sharma had Nyasha and Michelle stumped off successive balls in the final over to finish with 2-11. Sharne Mayers provided late impetus with an unbeaten 43 to lift Zimbabwe to 114/5. IANS
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