A new-look Indian team dominated by Shubman Gill, failed to take pressure on hand, and Zimbabwe scripted a stunning win in the first T20I of the five-match series played here at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday.
Holding a world record in trying to chase a measly 116 again, the visitors are bundling up for 102 in 19 overs. In 5 overs, however, senior batsman Gill, who was in good touch, got a chance to open and play a good innings of 31 of 29 balls. The Indian batting line-up, which boasted of having quite a few new faces, could not build a meaningful partnership and suffered the consequence.
India was a pale shadow of the side that triumphed in the first Test. The bowlers, particularly Ravi Bishnoi, who took 4/13, could not spur ‘India’ on for a memorable win as the hosts rejoiced over their terrific win.
The home team would guess hardly any time to do a flip as the young Indian brigade will be ready for the second T20I to be played on Sunday at the same venue. This defeat surely makes the team who were supposed to come into this tournament and dominate as the T20 world champions.
On the other hand, Zimbabwe will be delighted with the clinical manner of their performance, topped by their captain Sikandar Raza, who was equally useful with both bat and ball. Raza bowled well, with match figures of 17, and this dismissal came when Raza skittled Gill, Bishnoi, and Mukesh Kumar for 3/25.
Now that Zimbabwe has established an advantage over the BlackCaps, it will look forward to complementing this so as to eliminate them in the remaining matches.
