ZIM vs IND | Inexperienced India falter as astute Zimbabwe pull off stunning heist with 116-run defence

Asked to bat first, Zimbabwe got off to a rocky start with Mukesh Kumar dispatching innocent Kaia for a golden duck with his very first ball of the match. Nevertheless, Wesley Madhevere and Brian Bennet sailed past the early setback to inject some momentum with a flurry of boundaries in the powerplay, until Ravi Bishnoi entered the attack and accounted for both in consecutive overs to leave the score reading 51/3 after eight. Skipper Sikandar Raza shouldered the responsibility thereon to anchor the innings along with the young Dion Myers and just when the partnership seemed set to flourish, Avesh Khan had the former holed out to trigger a collapse. Twin blows by Washington Sundar and another two for Bishnoi saw the Zimbabweans collapse from 74/3 to 90/9 with the entirety of death overs still to come. Eventually, some brilliant rear-guard defensive action by Tendai Chatara allowed wicket-keeper batter Clive Madande to free his hands, fetching three boundaries in the final over off Avesh to take the score to a respectable 115/9.

In response, Abhishek Sharma endured a debut to forget after falling victim in a wicket-maiden opening over by Brian Bennett. The next four batters, including T20I debutants Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel, all managed single-digit scores as the Men in Blue severely came under the pump. Skipper Shubman Gill, meanwhile, played a mature hand to keep hopes intact, dragging the score to 43/5 by the halfway stage but a sensational jaffa from forced him to return to the pavilion for 31. Washington Sundar thereafter assumed the anchor role but wickets kept tumbling at the other end apart from an attacking 16-run cameo by Avesh Khan, with the equation eventually boiling down to 30 off the final three overs with just one wicket in hand. Sundar naturally farmed strike thereafter but simply could not get his timing right on the dry track, handing resilient Zimbabwe a stunning 13-run victory to begin the series. 

Can’t hit the fulltoss can’t hit the overpitch. This is a bunch of clowns tbh #INDvsZIM

— Chigum Bura (@ChigumBuraa) July 6, 2024

Commentators Pls stop calling them World champions !
No one from champion team is playing now 
#INDvsZIM

— Harsh (@Harshjindal22_) July 6, 2024