India brush aside Zimbabwe, go 2-1 up in the series

After a shaky start in the curtain-raiser, Team India is right back in the hunt as the Men in Blue edged past Zimbabwe for a second consecutive time, thanks to a captain’s knock from Shubman Gill and another sensational display from the Indian bowlers, who kept things extremely tight.

Winning the toss, India opted to bat first. They had four key changes to the team from the second contest of the series, which saw Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shivam Dube and Khaleel Ahmed coming into the side.

With the introduction of Jaiswal, Team India upped the gears straightaway and the opening duo of the former and Shubman Gill saw the visitors tot up 67 runs from just 49 balls. Despite Jaiswal (36) coming a cropper followed by a quick departure of Abhishek Sharma (10), the centurion from the last game, the Indian skipper kept his feet on the accelerator.

Joined by Ruturaj Gaikwad in the center, Gill shook off the mid-innings jitters after a couple of quick wickets and hit the time-warp button. By the time the Indian captain was done, he had already accumulated 66 off 49 on a two-paced surface. Gaikwad fell for 49 off 28 while India posted 182/4 at the end of 20 overs.

India got off to a flying start with the ball in their hands as Avesh Khan’s double whammy saw the cream of Zimbabwe’s batting back in the hut in no time. The early blitz from the Indian bowlers also featured a stellar mid-air grab from Ravi Bishnoi which proved to be the unravelling for Brian Bennett.

The wobbles continued for the hosts as India’s bowlers reduced Zimbabwe to 39/5. With the déjà vu of another collapse sinking in, it was Dion Myers (65*) and Clive Madande (37) who salvaged some pride. Despite a late lunge from Wellington Masakadza who blasted a 10-ball-18, India secured a comfortable win by 23 runs to go 2-1 up in the series. Washington Sundar won the Player of the Match award for his figures of 3/15.