Harare: Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill resembled unstoppable Ferraris on a national highway as they resoundingly struck unbeaten fifties to help India thrash Zimbabwe by 10 wickets and take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series. In the fourth T20I at the Harare Sports Club, India restricted Zimbabwe to 152/7 in 20 overs and then Jaiswal (93 not out) and Gill (58 not out) carried their bats through to hunt down 156 in just 15.2 overs and seal a massive win with 28 balls to spare.
Jaiswal began his onslaught by smashing Richard Ngarava for three delightful boundaries – via cut, whip and heave - in the opening over. From the other end, Shubman Gill got going with his trademark short-arm jab and cut to take two boundaries off Blessing Muzarabani.
Jaiswal gave signs of being unstoppable when he clobbered Tendai Chatara for four boundaries and brought up India’s fifty in just 3.5 overs by steering Faraz Akram to the left of the diving short third-man for four.
After the Power-play was over, Jaiswal brought up his fifty in 29 balls by slapping an overpitched delivery from Sikandar Raza through extra cover for a boundary. From there on, it became one-way traffic as Jaiswal and Gill dealt in wonderful stroke play, leaving Zimbabwe stunned.
Gill got his second consecutive fifty in the process in 35 balls and Jaiswal finished off the chase by pulling Muzarabani for four to seal the series win in India’s favour.
Earlier, Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed took 2-32 in a collective bowling show as India kept Zimbabwe to 152/7. Tushar Deshpande, Washington Sundar, Abhishek Sharma, and Shivam Dube provided decent support to Khaleel by taking a wicket each.
For Zimbabwe, Tadiwanashe Marumani and Wesley Madhevere put up a 63-run opening stand. But the hosts lost their way after the duo fell in quick succession. Captain Sikandar Raza stepped up to take Zimbabwe past 150 with a 28-ball 46.
His quick-fire knock was laced with two fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 164.29, though his dismissal at the fag-end cost Zimbabwe around 10-15 runs. Pushed into batting first, Zimbabwe were off to a decent start as Madhevere and Marumani hit seven boundaries between themselves in a 63-run opening partnership.
Brief scores: Zimbabwe 152/7 in 20 overs (Sikandar Raza 46, Tadiwanashe Marumani 32; Khaleel Ahmed 2-32, Shivam Dube 1-11) lost to India 156 for no loss in 15.2 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 93 not out; Shubman Gill 58 not out) by ten wickets. IANS
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