India Women will chase a 3-0 sweep when they face Zimbabwe Women in the third and final T20I at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, with the series already sealed 2-0 in the hosts’ favour.
The match begins at 7:00 PM IST and will be telecast on Star Sports 1 and Star Sports 1 Hindi, with live streaming available on JioHotstar.
The hosts have been emphatic so far. In the first T20I on October 16, India slipped to 22 for 4 chasing Zimbabwe’s 114 for 5 before Deepti Sharma’s 49 and an unbeaten 39 from debutant Niki Prasad steered the side home at 116 for 6 in 15.4 overs — a four-wicket win built on a genuine rescue act.
The second T20I, on October 18, was a rout. Zimbabwe were restricted to 102 for 8, and India gunned down 104 for 1 in just 8.5 overs — a nine-wicket win with 67 balls to spare, the biggest balls-remaining margin in any successful chase of a 100-plus target in women’s T20I history.
That evening belonged to the openers and a debutant. Shafali Verma blasted 55 off 25 balls, Smriti Mandhana finished unbeaten on 47 off 25, and Niki Prasad returned 2 for 7 — becoming the first Indian woman to take a wicket off her very first ball in T20I cricket.
Shafali walks into Raipur on the brink of history. She needs 78 runs to become the first woman to score 1,000 T20I runs in a calendar year — her 2026 tally stands at 922, including nine fifty-plus scores, itself a record.
There is a team milestone on the line as well. A win on Tuesday would be India’s 18th T20I victory of 2026, extending their own calendar-year record of 17.
The series is also a personal landmark for Mandhana, captaining India as full-time T20I skipper for the first time. A 3-0 scoreline would be the perfect start to her tenure.
For Zimbabwe, the dead rubber is about pride after two heavy defeats — a final chance in Raipur to show the fight that had India wobbling at 22 for 4 in the opener before the hosts pulled away.
With the series decided, India could use the evening to blood their bench, though the milestones on offer — Shafali’s thousand and the record 18th win — may keep the core of the side intact.
After Raipur, the tour moves to the ODI leg in Vadodara, with matches scheduled for October 23, 25 and 28.
