India Women Beat Zimbabwe by Four Wickets in Raipur

India chased 115 to win the first women's T20 in Raipur by four wickets, after slipping to 19 for 4. Deepti Sharma made 49.

On Friday night, 16 October 2026, India women beat Zimbabwe women by four wickets in the first T20 international at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh stadium in Raipur. Zimbabwe made 114 for 5 in their 20 overs. India reached 116 for 6 in 15.4 overs, with 26 balls left. India won the toss and chose to field. The win was narrower than the target suggests. India were 19 for 4 inside the first 19 balls. Smriti Mandhana, in her first match as full-time T20 captain, made 9 before she was out. Anushka Sharma made 4. Harmanpreet Kaur fell in the third over. Shafali Verma, the vice-captain, was caught and bowled. Off-spinner Nyasha Gwanzura took three of those wickets for 18 runs. Deepti Sharma then made 49, and debutant Niki Prasad finished unbeaten on 39. Prasad hit the winning boundary.

Why it matters

A target of 115 on a full ground should have been a short evening. It became a test because four senior batters were gone before the innings had properly started. Zimbabwe had lost all 18 of their T20 internationals this year before this match. For a few overs they were close to a result nobody expected. Kelis Ndhlovu made 42 and Sharne Mayers an unbeaten 43, but the innings stalled. N. Shree Charani, the top-ranked bowler in the format, took 1 for 14. Nandani Sharma took 2 for 11, both wickets in the last over. The repair job belonged to Deepti, who has played this role for years, and to Prasad, who led India to the Under-19 Women's T20 World Cup in 2025 and was playing her first senior international. A debut finish, not a captain's innings, took India over the line. Michelle Mavunga took the wicket of Harmanpreet Kaur. That left India without the batter who has so often rebuilt an innings from number four. The rebuild happened one place lower.

Key facts

• India made 116 for 6 in 15.4 overs and beat Zimbabwe's 114 for 5 by four wickets, with 26 balls remaining.

• India won the toss and fielded first at Raipur on 16 October 2026.

• India fell to 19 for 4. Gwanzura took 3 for 18, including Mandhana, Anushka Sharma and Shafali Verma.

• Deepti Sharma scored 49. Niki Prasad, on debut, was not out on 39 and hit the winning runs.

• Ndhlovu made 42 and Mayers was not out on 43. Charani took 1 for 14 and Nandani Sharma 2 for 11.

• The second match is in Raipur on Sunday 18 October. The third is there on 20 October, before one-day games in Vadodara.

What's next

The series is 1-0 to India, not won. Zimbabwe have seen that India's top order can be removed cheaply, and they will bowl at that again on Sunday, on the same ground. India have a repair plan that worked once: Deepti, and a debutant who did not blink. Mandhana's captaincy now has a win and a collapse in the same evening. Sunday will show which of those two facts was the accident. Zimbabwe's 18 losses this year are now 18, plus a defeat that felt like a chance. India are one up in a three-match series, all of it in Raipur before the one-day games move to Vadodara.