Unfancied Zimbabwe stun India by 13 runs in series opener

An inexperienced yet spirited Zimbabwe pulled off an upset of massive proportions when they stunned an Indian team brimming with an array of NextGen stars by 13 runs in the ZIM vs IND 1st T20I of the fivematch series on SaturdayIndia who were recently crowned champions in the T20 World Cup albeit with a different set of players were expected to trot past an unfancied hosts and the script followed that line when the hosts were restricted to 115 for nine in the ZIM vs IND 1st T20IBut from there Zimbabwe wrote their own narrative reducing India to 28 for four in the Power Play and then eventually bowled them out for 102 in 195 oversPacer Tendai Chatara 316 and skipper Sikandar Raza 325 led the home side bowling with aplombIt was Indias first defeat in T20Is in 2024 and first against Zimbabwe in eight yearsThe second match of the series is slated on SundayIndias stutter began in the first over itself losing Abhishek Sharma one of three T20I debutants along with Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel for duckSharmas almighty crossbatted heave off Brian Benett was caught easily by Wellington Masakadza in the outfieldBut what was perceived as an initial scratch soon turned into a deep gash as India kept losing wicketsRuturaj Gaikwad 7 could not negate a slightly bouncier offering from pacer Blessing Muzarabani edging it to Innocent Kaia at the floating first slipSoon pacer Tendai Chatara dealt a double blow to India dismissing Parag 2 and Rinku Singh 0 in the space of three balls in the fifth overParags overenthusiastic loft over midoff could not clear substitute Brandon Mavuta while Rinku did not have the necessary space to execute pull off a climbingup deliveryHowever skipper Shubman Gill kept India in the chase with a sensible knock 31 5x4 but Sikandar Raza accounted for his counterpart with a delivery that skidded past his bat to rattle the stumpsAlso Read Indias historic WC triumph an unreal experience for Kuldeep YadavAvesh Khan 16 12b and Washington Sundar 27 34b added 23 runs for the eighth wicket to take India to 84 but a fullblooded smash off a Masakadza fulltoss was accepted by Raza at longoffAt 84 for eight and then at 86 for nine the fight was well and truly overIndia needed 16 runs off the last over and despite Washington being there they could only manage just two runs as Zimbabwe celebrated a famous win with all fervourBefore their batters faltered the Indian bowlers led by legspinner Ravi Bishnoi performed admirably on a pitch that had a hint of extra bounce and sufficient carryBishnoi returned with a careerbest 413 and received adequate support from offspinner Washington 211 as Zimbabwe struggled to stitch any meaningful partnershipHowever Zimbabwe made a rather brisk start to their innings reaching 40 for two in the Power Play segment even though their batters were not always convincingAfter the early dismissal of Kaia who dragged a Mukesh Kumar delivery onto his stumps Wessly Madhevere 21 22b and Bennett 22 15b added 34 runs in quick timeThe highlight of their alliance was the fifth over in which they plundered 17 runs off leftarm pacer Khaleel AhmedBennett hammered him for two successive boundaries as Zimbabwe seemed to have recovered from the early loss of KaiaBut the ouster of Bennett by Bishnoi in the sixth over changed the complexion of Zimbabwes innings Bennett could not read Bishnois googly which also carried three more Zimbabwe batters to their doom later iquest Madhevere Muzarabani and Luke JongweThey crawled to 74 for three from there courtesy the patience of skipper Raza 17 19b but lost their way from that point losing six wickets for 41 runsThe hosts batters seemed to have slipped into a state of panic evidenced by the dismissal of Jonathan Campbell son of former Zimbabwe captain Alastair CampbellCampbell pushed an Avesh delivery to the covers and called for a single and his partner Dion Myers respondedBut Campbell changed his mind suddenly and stayed back as Myers crossed the crease forcing the former to walk backTheir last hope rested on experienced Raza and he raised some hope smashing Avesh for a six over the bowlers headBut the extra bounce Avesh generated soon did Raza in as his mistimed pull ended in the hands of Bishnoi in the deepWashington joined the party with two wickets in as many balls jettisoning Myers 23 22b and Wellington Masakadza 0 off consecutive ballsIn the process the Tamil Nadu man also completed 100 wickets in T20sClive Madandes cameo 29 not out 25b helped Zimbabwe go past the 100run mark and that proved a tad too many for India this dayWith agency inputs