Shafali, Harmanpreet, Nandani apply finishing touches to Zimbabwe’s rout

Harmanpreet Kaur rolled back the years to power India to a dominant win in the third T20I at Raipur, orchestrating a clean sweep against Zimbabwe. She was out for 1 in the first T20I and did not get an opportunity to bat in the second. But when she finally got the chance to spend some time in the middle, she made sure to make it count.

Having stepped down from the team’s captaincy across formats recently, Harmanpreet shared an 84-run stand with Shafali Verma, who extended her purple patch with a 37-ball 69, to take India to 216 for 7, their joint-third-highest T20I total. The ex-skipper hit five sixes and ten fours in her vintage 41-ball 91, her second-highest T20I score.

In reply, Zimbabwe could manage only a paltry 124 for 7, despite Sharne Mayers’ fighting 60 and an 82-run partnership with Beloved Biza. Zimbabwe did manage to pull off some acrobatic catches in the field, but their efforts were not enough to make a contest of it as India exercised control throughout.