India Women completed a 3-0 sweep of Zimbabwe Women with a 92-run victory in the third T20I in Raipur on Tuesday, but the commanding result also exposed the limitations of some of their experiments. Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten 91 off 41 balls and Shafali Verma’s 69 powered India to 216/7, before the bowlers restricted Zimbabwe to 124/7.
With the series already secured after Sunday’s nine-wicket win, India opted to bat first for the first time on the tour and reshuffled their batting order. Smriti Mandhana moved down the order to give Anushka Sharma an opportunity to open, while Niki Prasad was promoted to number three.
Anushka made a promising 28 off 20 balls, striking boundaries and a six before falling while attempting to clear mid-wicket. Niki, however, managed only nine, miscuing an aerial shot that was eventually caught by Loryn Phiri after a juggling effort. The changes offered India a chance to test their depth, but the new combination failed to produce substantial contributions beyond the top order.
Shafali and Harmanpreet then took control with an 84-run partnership for the third wicket. Shafali attacked from the outset, reaching her half-century off 27 balls and punishing Zimbabwe’s bowlers with five sixes. She eventually fell for 69 off 37 deliveries, having given India the platform for a big total.
Harmanpreet began cautiously but accelerated sharply from the 13th over. She took on Kudzai Chigora before launching Beloved Biza and other Zimbabwe bowlers over the boundary. She reached her 19th T20I half-century off 25 balls and continued attacking as wickets fell around her. Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma and Arundhati Reddy departed cheaply, but Harmanpreet remained unbeaten to finish with 10 fours and five sixes.
India’s bowling experiments were less convincing. Leg-spinner Prema Rawat, brought in for N Sree Charani, was given an opportunity against a Zimbabwe side that had scored only 102 and 114 in the first two matches. Introduced in the seventh over, she conceded a six to Sharne Mayers before being taken out of the attack.
Rawat returned for the 12th over and gave away seven runs, earning another chance soon afterwards. Mayers, however, attacked her again, hitting two sixes and a boundary in an over that cost 20 runs. Rawat finished wicketless, conceding 36 runs in three overs.
India’s other bowlers made sure the setback did not affect the result. Nandani Sharma claimed 3/18 in four overs, while Niki Prasad took 1/5 in two. Deepti Sharma, Kranti Gaud and Arundhati Reddy also picked up wickets.
Mayers top-scored for Zimbabwe with 60 off 49 balls, while Biza contributed 44, but the target was too steep. India’s clean sweep was emphatic, yet the final match left questions over whether their batting-order reshuffle and bowling options had provided the answers they were seeking.
