Smriti Mandhana started her full-time India captaincy reign with a four-wicket win against Zimbabwe in Raipur on Friday. Deepti Sharma scored 49 and debutant Niki Prasad hit 39 to help the team win. This match marked the first time these two nations met in a bilateral series for women's cricket.
Smriti Mandhana began her full-time India captaincy reign with a nervy four-wicket win against the visiting Zimbabwe in Raipur on Friday.
While the southpaw herself couldn't dazzle with the bat, scoring just nine off six, it was all-rounder Deepti Sharma's 49 and debutant Niki Prasad's unbeaten 39 which guided the Women in Blue over the line.
Smriti took over the leadership role from Harmanpreet Kaur after the latter announced her decision to step down as India captain across all formats earlier this month.
This is the first time that India and Zimbabwe are meeting in a bilateral series in women's cricket.
Smriti Mandhana T20I captaincy record
Before the first of the three-match series, Smriti had captained a few T20Is in the past while Harmanpreet Kaur was the full-time captain across formats. Here's a look at the opener's captaincy record in the shortest format thus far: