India’s transition in T20Is began on a disappointing note as the new-face team led by Shubman Gill suffered a 13-run loss to Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on Saturday. The hosts brilliantly defended a low score of 115 runs against a team full of IPL superstars, taking a 1-0 lead in the 5-match T20I series. Captain Sikandar Raza and Tendai Chatara picked up 3 wickets apiece as Zimbabwe bundled out India to 102 with a ball to spare.
The next-gen Team India did a brilliant job with the ball to restrict Zimbabwe to a paltry 115/9 after captain Shubman Gill opted to bowl first in the first T20I at Harare Sports Club on Saturday. Ravi Bishnoi returned a career-best figures of 4/13 with two maidens while Washington Sundar picked up a couple of wickets, halting the hosts to a low score. But in reply, the Zimbabwe bowlers ran through a youngster-rich Indian batting line-up, pushing them on the verge of humiliating defeat in the five-match T20I series opener.
India deployed a brand new opening pair, featuring Gill and his Punjab teammate and debutant Abhishek Sharma. The latter came into the tour after a superb IPL season where he was the second-leading scorer for the Sunrisers Hyderabad but couldn’t replicate his performance on foreign soil. After playing three dot balls, Sharma holed a half-tracker from Brain Bennet to Wellington Masakadza and fell for a four-ball duck in his first-ever game for India.
A couple of overs later, Ruturaj Gaikad fell prey to Blessing Muzarbani as the new India No. 3 edged a back of a length delivery to Innocent Kaia at the slips. More pressure mounted on the visitors when Tendai Chatara snared two wickets in the same over, dismissing Riyan Parag and Rinku Singh in the same over. The debutant from Assam could only muster 2 off 3 while Rinku, who just returned from the Caribbean after celebrating India’s T20 World Cup victory, was out for a 2-ball duck.
India were 4 down for 28 in the Powerplay with captain Gill still in the middle, fighting against the odds and joined by Dhruv Jurel, one of the third debutants for India. They did put up a 21-run stand for the fifth wicket but couldn’t take it further as Luke Jongwe got rid of Jurel in the 10 over.
Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza then cleaned his young Indian counterpart with a quick length delivery. Raza struck again in his next over to trap Ravi Bishnoi in front, dashing India’s hopes of making a comeback of any sort.
Meanwhile, Avesh Khan showcased his batting skills and struck three boundaries in his 16-run knock off 12 balls. But the moment he looked to go aerial, he struck Masakadza’s juicy full toss straight to Raza at long-off, leaving Washington Sundar in a critical spot.
It all came down to the final over with India needing 16 off the last six and all hopes pinned on Sundar. But the Tamil Nadu all-rounder could muster only 2 runs before holing out Chatara’s short ball to Muzarbani near backward square-leg.
Earlier, Zimbabwe made a brisk start to their innings, reaching 40 for two in the Powerplay even though their batters were not always convincing. After the early dismissal of Innocent Kaia, who dragged a Mukesh Kumar delivery onto his stumps, Wessly Madhevere and Brian Bennett added 34 runs in quick time.
The highlight of their alliance was the fifth over in which they plundered 17 runs off left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed. Bennett hammered him for two successive boundaries as Zimbabwe seemed to have recovered from the early loss of Kaia.
But the ouster of Bennett by Bishnoi in the sixth over changed the complexion of Zimbabwe’s innings. The hosts crawled to 74 for three from there, courtesy the patience of skipper Sikandar Raza (17 off 19) but lost their way from that point, losing six wickets for 41 runs.
(With PTI Inputs)
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