India women beat Zimbabwe women by nine wickets in the second T20I in Raipur on Sunday, 18 October 2026, to win the three-match series with a game to spare. The result gave the hosts an unassailable 2-0 lead, built on a crushing chase that was over in less than nine overs.
Zimbabwe won the toss, chose to bat and finished on 102/8 in their 20 overs. Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano top-scored with 34, while captain Josephine Nkomo was unbeaten on 27. Beloved Biza took 1/9, but the total proved far too small for India's batters.
Niki Prasad was India's best bowler, returning figures of 2/7. She took a wicket with each of her first two deliveries at international level, a start that put Zimbabwe under pressure and helped keep the visitors well short of a competitive score.
India then chased the target of 103 and finished on 104/1 in 8.5 overs, with 67 balls to spare. The opening stand was worth 96 runs, and the hosts were 76/0 after the powerplay. Shafali Verma hit 55 off 25 balls, including six fours and four sixes, and was named player of the match.
Smriti Mandhana remained unbeaten on 47 off 25 balls, with six fours and two sixes. Speaking afterwards, the India captain praised the bowlers and her opening partner. "The bowlers were really on the mark today," Mandhana said. She added: "Shafali was just doing her thing and I was happy to take singles."
Nkomo was generous in her assessment of the opposition. "I thought that was a batting masterclass by the Indian team," the Zimbabwe captain said. Shafali now has 111 T20I sixes for India women, two more than Mandhana's record, and she is the leading T20I run-scorer of 2026 with 922 runs at a strike rate of 165.52.
The series began with Mandhana's first match as full-time India captain, after Harmanpreet Kaur stepped down from the role across formats. It was also the first women's T20I played in Raipur. Jemimah Rodrigues is injured, and Anushka Sharma batted at No. 3 and scored 4 in the opening game.
India arrived for the series after an Asia Cup triumph and an Asian Games gold. The third and final T20I will be played in Raipur on Tuesday, 20 October, with India aiming for a 3-0 sweep. The next big event named is the Champions Trophy in February.
