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Harmanpreet's 91 off 41 balls powers India women to 3-0 sweep of Zimbabwe
India piled up 216 for 7 in Raipur and won the third T20I by 92 runs, their biggest home win by runs in the format. Nandani Sharma took 3 for 18.
Key points
- India beat Zimbabwe by 92 runs in the third T20I to complete a 3-0 series win.
- Harmanpreet Kaur made an unbeaten 91 off 41 balls and Shafali Verma 69 off 37.
- It was India's biggest home win by runs in women's T20Is.
India finished their series against Zimbabwe in a rush of boundaries in Raipur on Tuesday night. Harmanpreet Kaur smashed an unbeaten 91 off 41 balls, Shafali Verma made 69 off 37, and India’s 216 for 7 was far too much for the visitors, who were held to 124 for 7. The 92-run win completed a 3-0 sweep.
The margin was India’s biggest home win by runs in women’s T20 internationals. “Emphatic!” the BCCI Women account posted. “#TeamIndia clinch the series 3-0 with their biggest win at home (by runs) in T20Is.”
How the innings was built
India won the toss at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium and chose to bat. Captain Smriti Mandhana did not bat, and Shafali opened with Anushka Sharma. The pair put on 54 before Anushka fell for 28 off 20 balls in the sixth over, and Niki Prasad followed for 9.
That brought in Harmanpreet, and the game changed gear. Shafali reached her fifty off 26 balls, her 23rd in T20Is and ninth of 2026. She and Harmanpreet added 84 before Shafali was caught by Tendai Makusha off Beloved Biza in the 15th over, having hit six fours and five sixes.
Harmanpreet kept going. She reached her half-century in 25 balls and finished with 10 fours and five sixes, a strike rate of nearly 222. Wickets fell around her at the end, with Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma and Arundhati Reddy all out cheaply, but the damage was done. Biza was Zimbabwe’s best bowler with 3 for 50 in four overs.
Zimbabwe’s reply
The chase began badly. Kranti Gaud bowled Kelis Ndhlovu with the first ball, and Nandani Sharma had Modester Mupachikwa caught by Richa Ghosh to leave Zimbabwe 12 for 2.
Biza and Sharne Mayers then added 82 at close to a run a ball. Mayers top-scored with 60 and Biza made 44 off 50, but the required rate was always out of reach. Nandani returned to finish with 3 for 18, and Prasad, Deepti, Gaud and Reddy took a wicket each.
What the series showed
India had been pushed hard in the opening game on Friday, winning by four wickets, before a nine-wicket win on Sunday sealed the series. Tuesday’s result gives Mandhana a clean sweep in her first series as full-time captain, and a batting display that will please the selectors.
For Zimbabwe, it was their joint fifth-biggest defeat by runs in women’s T20Is.