IND vs ZIM 1st T20I Highlights: Zimbabwe beat India by 13 runs in the first of the five-match T20I series in Harare to mark a momentous occasion in their recent cricket history. The Sikandar Raza-led side's win over India made them first team to go past the Men in Blue in T20Is in 2024 even as the rest of the world tried unsuccessfully at the T20 World Cup 2024. Even though this is a completely different Indian team full of youngsters, the win means a great deal for a team that is ranked 12th in the world.
With Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli having announced their retirement from T20Is and Hardik Pandya and Suryakumar Yadav among others being handed a break after a hectic T20 World Cup 2024 schedule, it was Shubman Gill who was leading the team with three debutants.
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The Indian skipper won the toss and elected to field first, restricting Zimbabwe to 115/9 in their 20 overs. The spinners did the bulk of the damage with the ball for the new Team India with Ravi Bishnoi scalping 4/13 off his 4 overs. Washington Sundar was the other bowler who made the difference for the Men in Blue, picking up 2 wickets for 11 runs off his 4 overs. Zimbabwe would be thankful to Clive Madande whose 29 off 25 towards the end, helped them reach a total which eventually turned out to be a match-winning total.
Tendai Chatara, Sikandar Raza Pick Of The Bowlers For Zimbabwe
Even though Zimbabwe were defending 115, they picked wickest at regular intervals and eventually went on to win the match. Tendai Chatara and Sikandar Raza were the pick of the bowlers for the home team as they scalped 3 wickets apiece with Chatara picking 3/15 and Raza giving away 25 runs. Raza was adjudged the Player Of the Match as he had also chipped in 17 runs off 19 balls with the bat. Neither of India's three debutants had a memorable game with each of Abhishek Sharma, Dhruv Jurel and Riyan Parag failing to make an impact with the bat.