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India outplayed Zimbabwe in every aspect of the game in the first T20I at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on Thursday, July 23. After Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to field first, Mayank Yadav and Prince Yadav breathed fire, making life difficult for the Zimbabwean batters with raw pace and seam movement. The home side lost the wickets of Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, and Dion Myers inside the first five overs and never really recovered. Sikandar Raza did try to stitch a partnership with Ryan Burl but once he saw India introducing Shivam Dube into the bowling attack, his eyes lit up. He tried to hit a six but holed out in the deep.
Ryan Burl and Wessly Madhevere tried to resurrect the ship with a 32-run stand off 35 balls. However, they couldn’t push the run rate above six.
After Burl was dismissed for 26, Madhevere and Tadiwanashe Marumani launched a counter-attack, which saw Zimbabwe scoring runs quickly towards the back end of the innings. Their partnership yielded 57 runs off 37 balls. Zimbabwe eventually finished on 125/7, setting India a modest target of 126 to chase. Mayank Yadav and Prince Yadav picked up two wickets apiece, while Shivam Dube and Ravi Bishnoi picked up one scalp apiece.
While there was some assistance for the pacers, 126 was never going to bother India. Abhishek Sharma tried to give himself some time in the middle, but that move didn’t work. The southpaw was dismissed for one run off eight balls. However, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi played a blinder, registering his first international half-century off just 18 balls. He was dismissed immediately after getting to his milestone, but India were already in a commanding position by then. Ishan Kishan played well for his 35 off 24 balls before Blessing Muzarabani, Zimbabwe’s best bowler in the game, dismissed him.
Shreyas Iyer spent some time in the middle, and finished unbeaten on 28 off 24 balls. Tilak Varma remained not out at the other end on six. The Men in Blue reached home in 13.2 overs with 40 balls to spare.
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Who were the best batter and bowler?
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was the best batter, smashing four fours and four sixes in his 50-run knock off 19 balls. On the other hand, Mayank Yadav was the best bowler on show on Thursday. He finished with figures of 2/18 in four overs.
Who was named Player of the Match?
Mayank Yadav was named Player of the Match for his sensational performance with the ball, especially inside the power play.
When is the next match?
The next match is going to be played at the same venue on Saturday, July 25, while the final game will be played on Sunday.
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