Shafali Verma smashed a 24-ball half-century, with six fours and four sixes, and added a ninth 50-plus stand with her captain Smriti Mandhana in 2026 – a joint-record in women’s T20I in a calendar year, as India swatted aside Zimbabwe in the second T20I. With that, Mandhana started her tenure as full-time captain with a series win with one game still to play in the T20I series.
After restricting Zimbabwe to just 102/8, Shafali and Mandhana raced away to India’s second best Powerplay score in T20Is with 76/0. The early assault from the India openers was relentless: Shafali started the innings with a four and hit a six in the same over from Nyasha Gwanzura, who was then punished by Mandhana in her next over. Shafali brought out the full force in the fifth over off Nyasha Gwanzura, carting her around the park for five boundaries.
She then went 4 4 6 against Michelle Mavunga in the sixth over. The blitz didn’t stop just because the fields spread. Mandhana tonked a big six off Olinder Chare in the seventh over. In the eighth, Shafali reached her fifty with a six but fell next ball. This was Shafali’s ninth fifty-plus score in 2026, the most by a player in a calendar year.
Her exit made no difference to the proceedings as six balls later, Mandhana sealed the win with a six. The win came with 67 balls to spare, the most in a 100-plus chase in women’s T20Is.
Before the whirlwind batting show, India put the brakes with the ball. In a sluggish start, Zimbabwe opener Kelis Ndhlovu was cleaned up by Nandani Sharma in the fourth over. Zimbabwe crawled to the end of the Powerplay with 20/1 on the board, but stuttered in the middle. It soon became 20/2 and then 30/3 in the ninth over, before Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano and captain Josephine Nkomo displayed a gumption of a fight with a 45-run stand.
Niki Prasad then struck twice in the first two balls of her career, only the third to do in the format across men’s and women’s cricket. From 75/5 in 14.2 overs, the Zimbabwean innings meandered away, just about getting past three figures in the final over. As it turned out, it wasn’t close to being sufficient for their bowlers to make a match of it.
Brief scores: Zimbabwe Women 102/8 in 20 overs (Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano 34; Niki Prasad 2-7) lost to India Women 104/1 in 8.5 overs (Shafali Verma 55, Smriti Mandhana 47*) by 9 wickets
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