Zimbabwe vs India Archives

India thump Zimbabwe in third T20I to take lead in the five-match series

HARARE: Shubman Gill’s brisk half-century, followed by Washington Sundar’s three-for steered India to a 23-run victory over Zimbabwe in the third T20I of the five-match series here at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday.

The inexperienced India side, who succumbed to a narrow defeat in the series opener, now lead the five-match series 2-1 with two games to spare.

Opting to bat first, India racked up a commendable total of 182/4 on the tricky surface of the Harare Sports Club.

Leading the way was their young skipper Shubman Gill, who scored a magnificent half-century.

Gill gave India a solid start with his 67-run opening partnership with Yashasvi Jaiswal.

The solid opening stand lasted in the ninth over when Jaiswal fell victim to Sikandar Raza in the ninth over after scoring 36 off 27 deliveries.

Gill was then involved in yet another important partnership for India when he added 72 runs for the third wicket with Raturaj Gaikwad before finally walking back in the 18th over.

He remained the top-scorer for India with a 49-ball 66 which included 10 boundaries including three sixes.

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Gaikwad bolstered India’s total at the backend with clean hitting but failed to convert his brilliant knock into a well-deserved half-century as Blessing Muzarabani dismissed him in the final over.

Raturaj Gaikwad was the other notable run-getter for India with a quickfire 49 off just 28 balls with the help of four fours and three sixes.

For Zimbabwe, Sikandar Raza and Blessing Muzarabani bagged two wickets each.

In response, Zimbabwe managed 159/6 in the allotted overs as they failed to recover from the dismal start.

Avesh Khan and Washington Sundar ran through Zimbabwe’s top order, reducing the home side to 39/5 in seven overs.

Dion Myers then glimmered a ray of hope for Zimbabwe as he took on the India bowlers amid his gutsy knock.

Myers waged a lone battle for Zimbabwe with an unbeaten 65 off 49 deliveries but lamented support from the other end and thus the home side came up short.

Sundar led the bowling charge for India with three wickets, followed by Avesh Khan with two.

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Bowlers-led Zimbabwe beat India in T20I series opener

HARARE: Sikandar Raza-led Zimbabwe bowling attack decimated inexperienced India and sealed a narrow 13-run victory in the first T20I of the three-match series here at Harare Sports Club on Saturday.

Put into bat first, Zimbabwe managed to put 115/9 on the board in the allotted overs.

The home side got off to a shaky start to their innings as their opener Innocent Kaia (0) perished on the first delivery of the second over with just six runs on the board.

Opening batter Wessly Madhevere then joined forces with Brian Bennett and added 34 runs for the second wicket before Ravi Bishnoi dismissed the latter in the sixth over.

Bennett scored 21 off 15 deliveries with the help of five boundaries.

Bishnoi then struck again in his next over to provide India with a much-needed breakthrough with the prized scalp of Madhevere, who made 21 off 22.

Sikandar Raza then briefly took charge of Zimbabwe’s batting expedition and formed a crucial 23-run partnership for the fourth wicket Dion Myers.

The Zimbabwe captain fell victim to Avesh Khan in the 12th over after scoring a 19-ball 17.

Avesh struck again on the next delivery to send Jonathan Campbell packing for a golden duck.

Mayers then stitched a brief partnership with wicketkeeper batter Clive Madande. Their fifth-wicket stand yielded 15 runs and lasted with Mayers’ dismissal in the 15th over.

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Zimbabwe then lost three more wickets in quick succession and had slipped to 90/9 before Madande added valuable runs at the backend.

He put on a one-sided partnership with Tendai Chatara (0*) and 25 runs for the 10th wicket.

Madande top-scored for Zimbabwe with 29 off 25 deliveries, hitting four fours.

Bishnoi led the bowling charge for India with four wickets, followed by Washington Sundar, who bagged two. Avesh Khan and Mukesh Kumar made one scalp each.

In response, the inexperienced Indian batting unfolded on a meagre 102 on the penultimate delivery of the innings and thus succumbed to a 13-run defeat.

Skipper Shubman Gill top-scored for India with his 31-run knock up the order, followed by Sundar (27) and Avesh Khan (16).

The rest of the India batters seemed clueless against a disciplined Zimbabwe bowling attack and could not make it into the double figures.

Tendai Chatara and Sikandar Raza were the pick of the bowlers for Zimbabwe, picking up three wickets each while Luke Jongwe, Wellington Masakadza and Brian Bennet chipped in with a wicket apiece.

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Pakistan to face New Zealand in semi-final as India thrash Zimbabwe

MELBOURNE: Indian opener KL Rahul and top-ranked T20I batter Suryakumar Yadav powered their side to a massive 186/5 before bowlers displayed a combined effort to decimate the Zimbabwean batting order and handed their side a comprehensive 71-run victory in the last Super 12s fixture of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

Following India’s triumph over Zimbabwe, Pakistan will now face New Zealand in the first semi-final on Wednesday, while India will take on England in the second semi-final on Thursday.

Set to chase 187, the Zimbabwean batting lineup failed completely and could amass 115 runs before being bundled out in the 18th over.

Experienced all-rounder Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl put up a brief fight with their valiant knocks of 34 and 35 respectively, while the rest of the Zimbabwean batters had no answers to the Indian bowling attack.

Skipper Craig Ervine could accumulate 13 runs, while the rest of the Zimbabwean batters failed to amass the double figures.

Ravichandran Ashwin led the bowling attack for India with 3/22, while Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami bagged two wickets each.

Arshdeep Singh and Axar Patel, on the other hand, made one scalp each.

After opting to bat first, India succeeded in posting a mammoth 186/5 in their last Super 12s fixture at the back of Rahul and Kumar’s fifties.

The men in blue had a rather unwanted start to their innings as they lost their captain Rohit Sharma (15) cheaply for a mere 27 runs in the fourth over.

India’s top batter Virat Kohli then anchored the innings alongside Rahul and carried the total to 87 in the 12th over before the former perished after scoring 26 off 25.

Following Kohli’s dismissal, Rahul too, could not hold on for long and fell briefly after amassing his half-century. He scored 51 off 35 with the help of three boundaries and as many sixes.

Replacing Dinesh Karthik in the Playing XI, Rishabh Pant, failed to make an impact with the bat against Zimbabwe and could score a mere three runs in five balls before walking back to the dugout in the 14th over.

Following Pant’s departure, Kumar and Hardik Pandya took the charge and took Zimbabwean bowlers to cleaners as they added 65 runs in just 35 balls to power India to a massive total.

Kumar was the main aggressor of the vital fifth wicket stand, while Pandya, who was rotating the strike fell in the final over after scoring a run-a-ball 18.

The top-ranked batter Kumar top scored for India with a blistering 61 off 25 balls, laced with six boundaries and four sixes.

For Zimbabwe, Sean Williams bagged two wickets for just nine runs, while Sikandar Raza, Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava struck out a batter each.

India win toss, opt to bat first against Zimbabwe in T20 WC

MELBOURNE: India have won the toss and elected to bat first against Zimbabwe in the last Super 12s fixture of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022.

PLAYING XIs

India: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma (c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh.

Zimbabwe: Wessly Madhevere, Craig Ervine (c), Regis Chakabva (wk), Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Tony Munyonga, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Richard Ngarava, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani