Harare high for India!

All-round effort helps Shubman Gill & Co beat hosts Zimbabwe by 42 runs to win five-match T20I series 4-1; skipper impressed with players’ hunger to bounce back after losing first match

Sanju Samson’s well-crafted fifty and Mukesh Kumar’s disciplined spell helped India wind up their Zimbabwe tour with a comprehensive 42-run victory in the fifth and final T20I here on Sunday. With this win, India clinched the series 4-1.

All-round show by Dube

Samson’s (58, 45b) was central to India’s healthy 167 for six along with Shivam Dube’s flashy 26 (12b). Then the India bowlers led by Mukesh, Dube (2-25) and Washington Sundar (1-7) did their job, bundling out Zimbabwe for 125 in 18.3 overs.

After the early dismissal of Wessly Madhevere, who dragged the third ball of the first over by pacer Mukesh onto his stumps, and Brian Bennett, the pair of Tadiwanashe Marumani (27) and Dion Myers (34) added 44 runs for the third wicket to keep the hosts in the hunt.

Marumani’s switch-hit four off leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who went for a few runs in this match, was quite stunning in its execution. But such shots were few and far between from the Zimbabwe batters. Marumani went for a sweep shot against Washington but missed the line altogether as the ball crashed on to his upper torso to get adjudged as leg-before.

Dube tailed a shuffling Myers with a quicker delivery onto his body, and the Zimbabwe batter merely chipped the ball to Abhishek Sharma at short third man. The final nail on their hope was the run out of skipper Sikandar Raza (8), which came in a cartwheel of four wickets for nine runs.

Also Read: Samson cries foul

Mukesh claims four

Mukesh (4-22), who bagged his career-best T20 figure, fittingly ended Zimbabwe innings going through the gate of Richard Ngarava. The hunger to bounce back and adaptive skills helped Indian team pull itself up following the shocking loss in the series opener to win the remaining four matches, said skipper Shubman Gill.

India suffered an unexpected 13-run loss in the first game of the five-match series as the team fell short of chasing a modest 115-run total on July 6. But the visitors quickly put the disappointment on the back-burner to win the series.

“I think, the hunger that we showed after losing the first match was fantastic to watch. When we came here, not everyone had a lot of hits in the nets. We weren’t really used to the conditions. The way we adapted [was great],” said Gill following India’s 42-run win in the fifth and final T20I.

Player of the Series Washington Sundar said the pace and bounce of the pitch here took the Indian batters by surprise initially, which cost them the first match, adding that the series win had given the side a lot of confidence going into the upcoming white-ball series against Sri Lanka. India will play a six-match away series against the Islanders from July 27, which includes three T20Is and an equal number of ODIs.

Samson shines with 58

Earlier, Samson (1x4, 4x6) and Riyan Parag (22, 24b) added 65 runs for the fourth wicket as India recovered from a middling Power Play in which they scored 44 for three.

Brief scores
India 167-6 in 20 overs (S Samson 58; B Muzarabani 2-19) beat Zimbabwe 125 all out in 18.3 overs (D Myers 34; M Kumar 4-22; S Dube 2-25) by 42 runs

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