India's top order under scrutiny as Mandhana's side chase series win over Zimbabwe

India go into the second T20I against Zimbabwe in Raipur on Sunday evening a match up and a win away from the series, but with plenty to fix at the top of the order.

In Friday’s opener at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, captain Smriti Mandhana, vice-captain Shafali Verma, Anushka Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur all fell for single figures. Chasing 115, India were 19 for 4 before debutant Niki Prasad and Deepti Sharma rescued them with a partnership of 82, and the four-wicket win came with 26 balls to spare.

The damage was done by off-spinner Nyasha Gwanzura, who took three wickets in the powerplay. Zimbabwe’s batters had earlier shown they could hang in, with Kelis Ndhlovu and Sharne Mayers carrying them to 114 for 5.

Deepti wants the same intent

Deepti said India would not change their approach because of one wobble. “Of course, we want to play an aggressive brand of cricket, and that was in our mind,” she said.

She was full of praise for the 20-year-old Prasad. “Niki played really well. Honestly, it didn’t seem at all like she was making her debut,” Deepti said.

India are without Jemimah Rodrigues, who has a hamstring injury. Mandhana is in her first series as full-time captain, with Shafali as her deputy, and has wicketkeepers Richa Ghosh and G Kamalini in the squad along with pacers Kranti Gaud and Arundhati Reddy.

When and where

The second T20I starts at 7 pm IST at the same ground, and will be shown on the Star Sports network and streamed on JioHotstar. The third and final match is on Tuesday, 20 October.