India lost the opening T20I against Zimbabwe. Photo: AP
The post Virat-Rohit era in T20I began with a 13-run defeat for India in the first game against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday. After restricting Zimbabwe to 115/9, India looked well poised to chase down the total comfortably. However, the inexperienced Indian side was rattled early in the chase which helped Zimbabwe successfully defend the lowest total against the Men in Blue in T20I format.
The unforeseen victory ended India’s 12-match unbeaten streak and made them taste their first loss in T20I this year. Just two days ago, a victory parade was held in Mumbai to celebrate India’s T20 World Cup triumph in Barbados.
The voices have been silenced after Zimbabwe pulled off an inspired performance to hand a defeat to the inexperienced Indian side.
Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag’s debut for the Indian team turned into a nightmare. The much-anticipated fireworks never came from Abhishek’s bat after Brian Bennett sent him back for a four-ball duck.
Ruturaj Gaikwad (7) fell short against Blessing Muzarabani, while Parag tried to send the ball over mid-on, failed to get the desired connection and walked back with a score of 2(3).
After removing Parag, Chatara once again weaved his magic, restrained Rinku Singh from completely opening his arms and sealed his trip back to the dressing room for a two-ball duck.
Gill, who witnessed the collapse from the other end, survived a scare after Muzarabani almost pinned him in front of the stumps.
Dhruv Jurel and Gill tried to rebuild India’s innings, but the damage turned out to be more than they had predicted.
The game eventually fell out of India’s hands after Jurel chipped it straight into the hands of Madhevere, leaving India tottering at 43/5.
Washington Sundar tried to keep India’s fight alive after Gill’s dismissal. In the battle between skippers, Gill succumbed to his counterpart’s crafty spinner Sikandar Raza.
Sundar rotated the strike to keep the scoreboard pressure off. Avesh Khan went berserk and raised hopes of an unlikely victory with his 16-run cameo off 12 balls.
However, the asking rate got too much, and Sundar eventually lost his wicket in the final over, which sealed a famous 13-run win for Zimbabwe.
Earlier in the innings, Avesh Khan opened the floodgates for India by dismissing Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza, and then it was the duo of Bishnoi and Sundar who ran through the hosts’ lower order. Bishnoi was the chief destructor, finishing with career-best figures of 4-2-13-4.
Opting to field first, India began their innings on a good note as Mukesh Kumar removed Innocent Kaia on his very first ball in the second over of the match. Brian Bennett then came out to bat, and the batter opened his tally with a lofty four, topping it with another boundary on the last ball of the second over.
Wessly Madhevere also joined the hard-hitting party as he and Bennett smoked Khaleel Ahmed for 17 runs, slamming four boundaries.
Ravi Bishnoi struck with the very first ball to dismiss Brian Bennett as India broke the partnership. Bishnoi bagged his second wicket of the day as he dismissed Madhevere, who went for a sweep shot and completely missed it with the ball hitting his stumps.
After 10 overs, Zimbabwe had scored 69 runs. Sikandar Raza walked back after scoring 17 runs.
In the 15th over, Washington Sundar gave Zimbabwe back-to-back blows as he removed Dion Myers (23) and Wellington Masakadza for a golden duck. The captain’s departure triggered a collapse for Zimbabwe, and the team lost six wickets for just 17 runs.
Brief score: Zimbabwe 115/9 (Clive Madande 29, Brian Bennett 23; Ravi Bishnoi 4-13) vs India 102 (Shubman Gill 31, Washington Sundar 27; Tendai Chatara 3-16)
