2nd T20I: Unchanged India women asked to bowl first by Zimbabwe in Raipur

Raipur: India women were asked to bowl first in the second T20I of the three-match series against Zimbabwe at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium here on Sunday.

India and Zimbabwe went unchanged for the second match of this series, two days after the first match took place at the same venue.

Zimbabwe captain Josephine Nkomo won the toss and asked the Women in Blue to bowl first. She took confidence from the first T20I, where they pushed India in the meagre chase of 115, but wants more from her middle-order batters.

"We're looking to have a bat. Last time we had a good start, and we're hoping to carry it forward. (Need more runs through that middle order?) Yeah, definitely. So today the plan is just to try to rotate the strike more and just turn those ones into twos, and I'm sure we'll be good to go.

"(Can you replicate that performance?) Hopefully, if we go through our process well, we should be able to replicate it. Of course it was a good feeling, and I think it gives our bowlers a bit of confidence. (Are you ready to bowl?) Definitely. No changes," Nkomo said at the toss.

Meanwhile, India's newly-appointed skipper Smriti Mandhana stated that she wanted to bowl first anyway. "Well, looking to field first today as well. Of course, as a team, we'd like to have a convincing chase last time, so I'll try and get better in this game," Mandhana said at the toss.

She reflected on the match being played on a different pitch today with the same conditions on offer. "Looks like a similar wicket we played on in the first match, similar conditions. Bowlers did a good job, but we'll look to be more disciplined with the ball," she added.

Mandhana also said that the team would need to correct themselves from the trouble they faced in the previous game. (19 for 4, you'd want to correct that today?) Yeah, for sure. I mean, as a batting unit, we pride ourselves on having a really strong batting unit, which we definitely have. So we'll definitely look to get better in that department. (Any changes?) No, we'll be the same XI," she added.

Mandhana has a chance to wrap the series and start her full-time captaincy role on a strong note. "Well, I'm really looking forward to playing some good cricket. I think we don't do anything in terms of thinking about what's going to happen after the match. We want to come here out there, play the best cricket. So I'm just looking forward to that one," Mandhana said on the possibility of winning the series today.

India were tested pretty well in their first international meeting with Zimbabwe in the first T20I two days ago. They were in trouble at 19/4 in their chase of 115 after the top four produced single-digit scores.

However, debutant Niki Prasad and veteran all-rounder Deepti Sharma sailed the Indian ship through the tough phase with a composed 82-run stand as they went on to register a four-wicket win.

Niki remained unbeaten with her 39 from 45 balls, while Deepti was dismissed on 49, but India crossed the line comfortably in the end with 26 balls to spare.

Playing XIs:

India Women: Smriti Mandhana(c), Shafali Verma, Anushka Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Niki Prasad, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh(w), Arundhati Reddy, Shree Charani, Nandani Sharma, Kranti Ga

Zimbabwe Women: Kelis Ndhlovu, Beloved Biza, Modester Mupachikwa(w), Sharne Mayers, Nyasha Gwanzura, Michelle Mavunga, Chipo Mugeri-Tiripano, Francisca Chipare, Josephine Nkomo(c), Olinder Chare, Tendai Makusha

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