Zimbabwe Indian Tour, 2022
Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill hit the 80s unbeaten after a clinical performance with the ball, helping India take a 1-0 lead with a 10-wicket win over Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on Thursday (18 August). Deepak Chahar, playing his first international match since February 2022, took three wickets and was completed by Axar Patel and Prasidh Krishna who also took three wickets each as India beat Zimbabwe for 189. Gill (82* on 72) and Dhawan (81* from 113) then set up his third over 100 in the final four innings to lead India to the line with 19.1 overs to spare.
Dhawan and Gill were in no rush in pursuit, taking their time getting started. Aside from a few fours early in the innings, Dhawan was mostly alert, as was Gill as they nullified new-ball bowlers who found the swing. But Victor Nyauchi struggled for pace and got his lines wrong, playing up to eight wide in an opening four. Gill dealt in singles while Dhawan capitalized on bulk deliveries for some limits. The vice-captain also got a reprieve, granted by Evans to square-leg Sean Williams.
After going no limit until the end of the 13th, Gill finally escaped in the 14th, scoring three fours (one on an outside edge) on Brad Evans while picking up the pace beyond five. With the spread of the field, there were easy opportunities to milk singles and twos, and Indian openers moved risk-free to build their partnership. Dhawan got a 50-76 ball then hit an extra four coverage on Sikandar Raza in the 20th to conjure up the partnership of the century.
Gill’s fifty was next as the right-handed fly-half reached 51 balls there with two successive fours from Ryan Burl. The first six innings came off the bat for Gill as he clubbed a Wesley Madhevere delivery over the midwicket fence to propel India past 150 in the 26th, and the 22-year-old quickly outstripped the 36-year-old veteran despite lower deliveries. Gill and Dhawan both added to their boundary tally, getting the scoring rate past six. The southpaw scored the winning streak in the 31st as India recorded their 13th successive ODI win against Zimbabwe and also their ninth win in the last 10 ODIs.
Earlier, with a generous amount of swing and bounce on offer in the morning, Chahar and Mohammed Siraj cast a test spell on Zimbabwe’s early players after KL Rahul opted to play. After going over the outside edge several times and losing a review for a decision before the leg, Chahar finally pocketed the wicket of Innocent Kaia with a short delivery and also dismissed Tadiwanashe Marumani shortly after. Siraj then got the better of Williams with a short delivery to get the batter to sneak in on the first slip, while Chahar bagged his third wicket by trapping Madhevere in front as Zimbabwe slipped 31 for 4 in the 11th.
Zimbabwean captain Regis Chakabva brought the attack back to India by scoring a boundary flurry. Meanwhile, the visitors lost their second crit when Chahar, playing his seventh game in a row, hit Raza on the pads and replays revealed the ball missed the stumps. Chakabva and Raza built a stable partnership, but their association came to an end on the 35th when Prasidh found the Raza’s outer edge fit. Chakabva had a lucky break when he reviewed a front leg decision in a Kuldeep Yadav after being dropped. At the other end, Burl played confident shots but fell to a short ball ploy from Prasidh.
The first wicket to spin came on the 27th when Chakabva, looking to play the cut shot, was kicked by Axar for 35 and the left arm spinner also sent off Luke Jongwe. While India would have hoped to wrap up the innings quickly, Evans and Ngarava kept them waiting as they set up a half-century fighting partnership. The pair turned the strike well, scored boundaries occasionally while Evans also hit the first six of the innings when he sent a Kuldeep delivery over the midwicket fence as they lifted the Zimbabwe’s ninth-highest wicket against India. Ngarava also hit a six, sending a long-running Axar delivery wide, before a Prasidh yorker ended his stay. Axar fired last man Nyauchi as Zimbabwe’s innings ended with 9.3 overs remaining.
Short scores:
Zimbabwe 189 in 40.3 overs (Regis Chakabva 35, Richard Ngarava 34; Brad Evans 33*; Deepak Chahar 3-27, Axar Patel 3-24, Prasidh Krishna 3-50) lost at India 192/0 in 30.5 overs (Shubman Gill 82*, Shikhar Dhawan 81*) by 10 counters.
(Cricbuzz)
