IND vs ZIM T20I: India defeated Zimbabwe by 23 runs in the third match of the T20 series. With this victory, the team has taken a 2-1 lead in the 5-match series. The fourth match of the series will be played on July 13.
On Wednesday, Team India won the toss and decided to bat first at Harare Sports Club and scored 182 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in 20 overs. Chasing a target of 183 runs, Zimbabwe could only score 159 runs for the loss of 6 wickets in 20 overs. The team lost 5 wickets for 39 runs.
From here, Dion Myers played an unbeaten half-century innings of 65 runs in 49 balls. He raised hopes by sharing 77 runs for the sixth wicket with Clive Madande, but could not make his team win. Washington Sundar took 3 wickets for the Indian team. While Avesh Khan got 2 wickets.
For the Indian team, captain Shubman Gill played an innings of 66 runs in 50 balls. Gill scored his first fifty in this series. Rituraj Gaikwad scored 49 runs and missed his fifty by one run. Last match’s centurion Abhishek Sharma could score only 10 runs. Yashasvi Jaiswal (36 runs) was caught out after being given two lives.
Table of Contents
Gill scored 66 runs
captain Shubman Gill’s half-century helped India bat first against Zimbabwe and score 182 runs for 4 wickets. Opener Gill scored 66 runs in 49 balls with seven fours and three sixes, besides sharing 67 runs for the first wicket with Yashasvi Jaiswal (36) and 62 runs for the third wicket with Rituraj Gaikwad (49) to take the team to a strong score.
Raza-Mujarrabani took 2-2 wickets
For Zimbabwe, captain Sikandar Raza took two wickets for 24 runs while Blessing Mujarrabani took two wickets for 25 runs. Gill won the toss and decided to bat first and gave the team a great start by adding 55 runs without losing a wicket in the power play with Jaiswal. Jaiswal hit two fours and a six in the very first over of off-spinner Brian Bennett while Gill hit two fours and a six in the next over off left-arm fast bowler Richard Ngarava.
Jaiswal got a lifeline on the score of 29
Jaiswal hit a four and a six on consecutive balls of fast bowler Tendai Chatara. Jaiswal was given a lifeline by Tadivanashe Marumani at sweeper cover on Chatara’s ball on a personal score of 29 runs. However, he could not take advantage of it and got caught by Bennett at backward point on Raza’s ball in the next over. He faced 27 balls and hit four fours and two sixes.
Abhishek Sharma scored only 10 runs
Abhishek Sharm, who scored century in the last match, was also caught by Marumani off Raza’s ball after scoring just 10 runs. Gill and Gaikwad then took the innings forward. Both hit sixes off Wesley Madhevere in the 13th over. India’s century of runs was completed in this over. Gill completed his half-century in 36 balls with a four off Chatara. Gill and Gaikwad also hit sixes off Raza in the 17th over. However, Gill then got caught by Raza after waving Mujarbani’s bouncing ball in the air, while Gaikwad also missed his half-century by one run after getting caught by Madhevere in the last over of this fast bowler. Gaikwad hit four fours and three sixes in his 28-ball innings.
These are the major reasons for Zimbabwe’s defeat
Batting first, India scored 182 runs. During this, Yashasvi and Shubman gave a good start to the team. Zimbabwe’s bowlers could not break the opening partnership at the right time. India’s first wicket fell at a score of 67 runs. After this, Rituraj Gaikwad scored 49 runs in 28 balls. India’s big score became the first reason for Zimbabwe’s defeat.
The second reason behind Zimbabwe’s defeat was its openers. Wesley and Marumani could not do anything special. Zimbabwe’s first wicket fell at a score of 9 runs. The second wicket fell at a score of 19 runs. The team’s third wicket fell at a score of 37 runs. Brian Bennett was out after scoring just 4 runs. Captain Sikandar Raza also could not do anything special. Zimbabwe’s poor batting led to its downfall in this match.
There was a good partnership between Myers and Clive. Both of them had increased the tension of India. But Clive got out on a personal score of 37 runs. If this pair had stayed, Zimbabwe could have won. But Clive got caught by Rinku Singh and got out.
