India took a 2-1 lead in the five-match series with a 23-run win over Zimbabwe in the third T20I in Harare. Washington Sundar was named Player of the Match for his bowling figures of 3 for 15, helping India defend a par total of 182. Shubman Gill played the classic anchor. Ruturaj Gaikwad the disruptor at No. 4. And Washington Sundar proved simple offspin can be sexy.
Washington Sundar and the fielding, clearly was the difference as Sikandar Raza, speaking after the loss, spoke about conceding “20 extra runs” in the field, without which the contest promised to be much tighter in the middle. There were at least three dropped chances by the hosts, with Shubman Gill, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashaswi Jaiswal all getting a reprieve, but even the ground fielding in general left much to be desired. India, in contrast, took their catches and were great in the outfield.
Pitch and Toss
Stark difference to the pitches used in the previous games. There is some grass but it is well rolled into the pitch. There are some cracks which signal that it it pretty dry. This might be a good batting surface, but batting would get tricky in the second innings if the sun is out and it will bake the surface. 160 could be a winning total on a track like this.
Indian skipper Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bat first with 4 changes in the squad as Yashaswi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube and Khaleel Ahmed were included in place of B Sai Sudarshan, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag and Mukesh Kumar. Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza bowling first made two changes in his playing XI as Richard Ngarava and Tadiwanshe Marumani comes in for Innocent Kaia and Luke Jongwe.
Fast start for India as Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal reunite at the top
Zimbabwe started with an offspinner against Yashaswi Jaiswal, who was back in the squad after his quick trip back home, but it was a tactic that backfired almost immediately and saw 15 runs taken off the opening over. Shubman Gill, partnering Jaiswal at the top, then laid into Richard Ngarava and took 14 runs off the next over.
Tendai Chatara’s introduction played out similarly, with Jaiswal hitting him for a boundary and a six as India found themselves flying at 41/0 after three overs. But Blessing Muzarabani’s introduction slowed things down a touch and the visitors had to make do with only 14 runs off the last three PowerPlay overs. Zimbabwe were sloppy in the field, allowing India to get away with a few extra runs.
The return of three players from the T20 World Cup-winning squad forced a change in India’s tactics. Jaiswal has been the incumbent opener – whenever India have played without Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – and he slotted back at the top with Gill. As a result, Abhishek Sharma, fresh from his maiden international century in the second T20I, and Gaikwad had to play out of positions at Nos. 3 and 4.
Jaiswal started with two fours and a six in the opening over. Gill did the same in the second over. India were 29 in two overs, and then 49 in four. Then Blessing Muzarabani found his length and the pace to bowl on a two-paced surface. Sikandar Raza’s spin was tough to put away. And from 54 for 0 in five overs, India crawled to 67 for 0 at the end of eight. Which brought about Jaiswal’s dismissal – miscuing the switch hit to backward point.
Zimbabwe make a comeback in middle overs as Gill anchors and Gaikwad bludgeons
It took the introduction of captain Raza for Zimbabwe to land the first blow and break the 67-run opening stand. Jaiswal, who was dropped three balls earlier, botched a reverse sweep and handed a catch to backward point. Abhishek Sharma, having walked out in the middle overs in a new role, looked a bit out of touch and was caught on the bigger legside boundary, again off Raza’s bowling.
Ruturaj Gaikwad walked out to bat next but India lost momentum in these middle overs, scoring only 48 runs between overs 4 and 12. But just when Zimbabwe looked in the ascendancy, Wesley Madhevere conceded 19 runs off the 13th over, with both Gaikwad and Gill taking him down for a maximum each.
Abhishek had a brief stay in the middle, which brought together Gill and Gaikwad in the 11th over. Wesley Madhevere only over – the 13th of the innings – allowed India to change gears. Gill first hit the leg spinner for a six before Gaikwad hit him for a six and a four. Gaikwad regularly used his feet even against pace to put Tendai Chatara and later Richard Ngarava, who replaced Luke Jongwe in the Zimbabwe XI, off their lengths.
Gill sped up to bring up a 36-ball fifty, his first as India’s T20I captain. However, despite a long batting order – Washington Sundar was carded in at No. 8 – India were in danger of finishing with a below-par score when they were 130 for 2 after 16.
Which is when an 18-run over from Raza – featuring four byes and a six each from Gill and Gaikwad – lifted them. But the extra bounce on the surface consumed Gill in the 18th, when he looked to loft Muzarabani over the covers but miscued it to Raza tracking back. Gaikwad hit a few lusty blows but fell one short of fifty
Fielding lets Zimbabwe down again as India reached 182 for 4 after 20 overs
Zimbabwe started this phase of play on a very tight note, with Ngarava conceding only 3 runs off the 16th over but India decided to take down Raza in his final over and take him for 18 runs. Gill, who got to a fifty off 36 balls, fell trying to force the pace and handed a catch to mid-off, where Raza took a catch much to the relief of his teammates who had been found wanting in the field. Gaikwad couldn’t quite get to his fifty but his 29-ball 49 allowed India to get to a total of 182/4, which Yashasvi felt was a “good score” on a “two-paced” pitch.
India ended on 182, not below par at all. Two half-century partnerships – 67 off 50 between Gill and Jaiswal and 72 off 44 between Gill and Gaikwad – had taken India there, and Jaiswal, at the innings break, felt it was enough. What aided them were a few missed half-chances, two dropped catches – one each of Jaiswal and Gaikwad – and a plethora of misfields.
When Chatara failed to get a hand to Jaiswal’s pull in the opening over, little did Zimbabwe know it was a sign of things to come. In the next over, Myers was a bit late in reacting to a top edge from Gill and the ball landed short of him running in from midwicket. Jaiswal and Gaikwad received reprieves.
A few half-chances were missed. The mishaps on the field were mostly regulation efforts, which meant India raced away to a fast start despite facing 22 dots in the powerplay. Overall, India were beneficiaries of 31 runs according to ESPNCricinfo’s ball-by-ball data. The eventual win margin was just 23.
Bowlers start well for India in the Powerplay
Zimbabwe in this phase were a mix of aggression and setbacks. Khaleel Ahmed opened with early boundaries from Tadiwanshe Marumani but it took Avesh Khan one delivery with the new ball to send back Wesley Madhevere at the other end. The back-to-back wickets of Marumani and Brian Bennett, coming in the space of four balls, really hurt the hosts then.
Marumani fell while trying to hit over mid-on whereas Bennett fell to an outstanding flying catch by Bishnoi at backward point. Sikandar Raza brought stability, hitting consecutive boundaries off Avesh and reaching 5000 T20 runs, but the damage had been done upfront.
Tadiwanshe Marumani replaced Innocent Kaia, who had a split webbing, at the top of the order and started enterprisingly. He belted a couple of fours in the opening over bowled by Khaleel Ahmed – in for Mukesh Kumar – but fell trying to repeat the dose in his next over. From the other end, Avesh Khan first dismissed Madhevere, who patted one to short cover, and then Brian Bennett, thanks to a spectacular flying catch from Ravi Bishnoi at backward point.
India’s lack of fifth bowler laid bare but Washington Sundar strikes keep Zimbabwe at bay .
It started well for India, with Washington Sundar picking the big wickets of Raza and Johnathan Campbell in the first over after PowerPlay. Zimbabwe were tottering at 49/5 after nine overs but then the 77-run stand between Dion Myers (65* off 49) and Clive Madande (37 off 26) really came into its own. The duo went hard at Abhishek Sharma and Shivam Dube, who bowled their combined 4 overs for 50 runs. Madande even hit Dube for back-to-back sixes in the 15th over, giving the hosts a glimmer of hope, with 73 needed off the final five overs.
When Raza swung across the line to hole out to deep square-leg off Washington Sundar’s second ball, the writing seemed to be on the wall. It got better for India – and worse for Zimbabwe – when substitute fielder Riyan Parag took a sharp catch at slip to dismiss Johnathan Campbell four balls later off Washington Sundar.
Frontline bowlers secure win and a 2-1 lead for India.
Myers and Madande had other plans. India’s decision to accommodate all of their T20 World Cup returnees left them thin on bowling resources. As a result, Abhishek and Shivam Dube had to combine to bowl four overs. Myers and Madande didn’t let them settle and hit a combined six fours and two sixes off them. Those four overs cost India 50. Thanks to the early inroads, it did not cost them on the day.
No sooner than India’s frontline bowlers were into the attack that the side looked in control of things again. Khaleel bowled the 16th over for only 2 runs before Sundar (4-15-3) struck in the next over to get rid of Madande, caught in the deep by Rinku Singh. Bishnoi, bowling the 19th over, conceded 16 runs in the penultimate over and then Avesh gave away 18 runs in the final over but a couple of tight overs at the start of this phase had more than sealed the game for India.
Presentations and Road Ahead
Sikandar Raza the loosing skipper said : I think it’s the fielding again, we are proud of our fielding but the wheels came off today, we gave away 20 extra runs and we lost by 23 runs. We still have problems at the top but I have utmost faith in them that they will come good some time. We have tried 15 different partners (openers) in the last year and a half or so.
There is a lot of cricket going on in the country and club cricket has revived. It’s time that our players including myself take up the responsibility. The youngsters making mistakes is acceptable but the senior players need to step up. You cannot fix a problem by creating another problem, we have picked 3 openers for a reason.
The openers that have been picked up should be given a run. (On Muzarabani) He he has been outstanding, sometimes the rewards don’t come but in the long run the rewards do come.
Shubman Gill the winning skipper said : Definitely it feels very good, it was a crucial game for us, the way we started with the bat and ball was good. The wicket was a bit double-paced, the odd ball was gripping and it was not easy to hit the length balls, that’s what we discussed with our bowlers. We know that if there is something in the wicket, it will be more with the new ball, and as the ball gets old it’s a bit easier to score. Everyone is contributing and that’s a good sign.
Washington Sundar Player of the Match for his 3 wickets for 15 runs said: Feels amazing and every time I play for the country, it feels amazing. It was definitely a better wicket, in the first two games there was more for the bowlers compared to this game, our batters batted well.
(On the partnership between Myers & Madande) It did put a lot of pressure on us and we wanted to execute our plans the best we can to restrict them. Hopefully, we get to see a lot of places in Zimbabwe and explore more, hopefully we can seal the series on Saturday.
An impressive show from the Men in Blue as they keep up the momentum in the series. A breezy knock from Jaiswal, a fifty from Gill and a 28-ball 49 from Gaikwad enabled India to post an above par score on a slightly two-paced surface. Zimbabwe lost three wickets within the powerplay and that pushed them further on the back foot. Raza tried to counter-attack but Washington Sundar outsmarted him with a smart piece of bowling.
The hosts lost half their side within 7 overs and the writing was on the wall for them. Myers and Madande tried their best as they stitched a 77-run stand for the sixth wicket but it didn’t come at the pace they would have liked. The consolation for the hosts was Myers’ scoring a fighting fifty. The flourish came at the fag end but it was too late for the hosts by then. Washington Sundar and Khaleel were the pick of the bowlers for India as they bowled in brilliant channels.
Shubman Gill played the classic anchor. Ruturaj Gaikwad the disruptor at No. 4. And Washington Sundar proved simple offspin can be sexy. At the end of it all, India took a big step towards winning the five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe with a 23-run win in the third match to take a 2-1 lead.
Gill scored a 49-ball 66 opening the batting and Yashaswi Jaiswal, his partner, slammed 36 from 27, setting the platform for a 28-ball 49 from Gaikwad that helped India to 182 for 4. Washington then picked up three wickets, including two in his first over, for 15 runs to quell chances of a Zimbabwe fightback.
Zimbabwe managed to delay the inevitable thanks to a fantastic half-century from Dion Myers, his first in T20Is, and his 77-run partnership with Clive Madande.
India have bounced back in style after a shocker that they faced in the first game of the series. They are functioning like a well-oiled unit and the results are there to see. Zimbabwe need to up the ante if they are to make a comeback. The 4th T20I is on Saturday 13th July from the same venue and India would look to seal the series on the day itself.