India conquer Zimbabwe in style as bowlers live up to their heightened billing

The youngsters of Team India capped things off with a bang as they surged past Zimbabwe in the final T20I emphatically to secure the bragging rights of the series by a staggering 4-1 margin after going down in the sequence opener. Despite a few hiccups while batting, Sanju Samson’s heroic half-century saw India tot up a decent number before the bowlers dished out another match-winning performance.

Winning the toss, Zimbabwe opted to bowl. Unlike the last three games, the visitors didn’t really get off to a banger. Yashasvi Jaiswal (12), Shubman Gill (13) and Abhishek Sharma (14) fell in quick succession to reduce Team India to 40/3. However, a fighting stand from Riyan Parag (22) allowed Sanju Samson to sprinkle his stardust and keep India afloat in the contest.

Shivam Dube’s quickfire 26 off just 12 balls saw India fighting back while Sanju Samson’s gritty 58 allowed the visitors to tot up 167/6 at the end of their 20 overs. The surface wasn’t exactly a featherbed and the odd ones did grip which was enough for the Indian bowlers to take note.

Despite Tadiwanashe Marumani (27) and Dion Myers (34) fighting hard, there was no support whatsoever from the other Zimbabwe batters. Mukesh Kumar returned Wesley Madhevere for a bronze duck while his second blow of the evening saw Brian Bennett departing for 10.

It was a chaotic descent for Zimbabwe from thereon as Team India looked relentless in their pursuit of the fourth win of the trot. Such was India’s dominion that they claimed seven wickets at the expense of just 40 runs, forcing another clinical win.

Mukesh Kumar was the pick of the bowling lot as he registered figures of 4/22 while the combined attack of Shivam Dube (2/25), Abhishek Sharma (1/20), Washington Sundar (1/7) and Tushar Deshpande (1/25) rolled up Zimbabwe for a paltry 125.

Shivam Dube was the Player of the Match for his impactful all-round display while Washington Sundar walked away with the Player of the Series award for another reckoning performance throughout the series.