In a lopsided fourth T20I at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday, July 13, India easily defeated Zimbabwe by 10 wickets to claim the five-match series with one match remaining.
Shubman Gill won his fourth straight toss, and India bowled first for just the second time in the series. The Zimbabwean opening combination of 52 valid deliveries gave their side a modest start as they added 63 runs, but they were methodical in their approach. Abhishek Sharma and Shivam Dube, two seldom bowlers, dismissed the two openers in consecutive overs. Sikandar Raza, the skipper, walked out to the middle and took some calculated risks against the inexperienced Indian bowlers, which resulted in an increase in the scoring pace.
But in the middle overs, Ravi Bishnoi bowled a tight spell, so he didn’t have much help from the other end. After debutant Tushar Deshpande dismissed Raza for a 28-ball 46 in the 19th over, Khaleel Ahmed produced a superb final over to limit the hosts to 152/7 in 20 overs.
The first innings was gripped by slower deliveries from the seamers, so the surface was not exactly level. Zimbabwe would have hoped to exert pressure on the young Indian batting lineup with a disciplined effort on the pitch, even though the 153-run mark didn’t appear daunting. Yashasvi Jaiswal, who smacked 13 fours and two sixes in an undefeated 93 off 53 balls, brought a storm to them, though.
Also Read: Twitter Reactions: Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal destroy Zimbabwe, India seal the series in Harare
Shubman, on the other hand, contentedly took the back seat as the southpaw bowler failed to spare any Zimbabwean player that day. With 15 runs off Richard Ngarava’s opening over, Yashasvi set the tone early in the game, and there was no turning back after that. The tourists reached the mark in 15.2 overs with 10 wickets in hand thanks to Shubman’s finish of 58 not out off 39 balls. With this victory, India established an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series, making Sunday’s match irrelevant.
First T20I: ZIM vs. IND – Who Said What?
Winning Captain, Shubman Gill said:
Chasing was one thing we talked about. We could not do it in the first game, so good to get it done. The job is not done though. This is a great team, great bunch of players. Hopefully we will be able to take the team forward. [Changes tomorrow] Haven’t had the discussion with the coach. If there are any changes, we will let you know at the toss tomorrow.
Losing Captain, Sikandar Raza said:
I think because the wicket was a touch on the slower side, we thought 160 was a par score, but 180 wouldn’t have been enough. Today is the day you hold your heads high and say they batted better. I am very sure we will be a very competitive side in a short time. Even though the last five overs went for 54-55 we could have got more runs. There was a bit of kick, bounce and we had to reign ourselves in. They batted really well and batted us out of the game. The wicket was slightly on the slower side and it was spongy. The heavy roller did the trick for them. It became a beautiful wicket. We will want to finish the series 3-2 tomorrow.
POTM, Yashasvi Jaiswal said:
I really enjoyed today. The wicket was really good. I was trying to play my shots and I enjoyed my game. When the ball was new it was coming onto the bat. When the ball got old, it was slow. I understood and changed my game. We really enjoyed together. Initially, I wanted to go after my shots. After that, I wanted to rotate and wanted to stay till the end.
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