Zimbabwe Stuns New-Look India in First T20I with 13-Run Victory

Harare: A new-look India, led by Shubman Gill, put up a sloppy batting display to lose to an inexperienced Zimbabwe by 13 runs in the first T20I of the five-match series, in Harare, on Saturday.

Fresh from their T20 World Cup triumph, India chose to field a young side, handing three debut caps.

But the young Indian batters failed to shine and returned with eight-single digit scores to be bowled out for 102 in 19.5 overs in pursuit of a target of 116.

In reply, the Indian batting line-up, which had three debutants, struggled to apply themselves and perished to poor shot selection to be four down in power-play. Despite some glimmers of hope from Avesh Khan and Washington Sundar, India went in chase of the total and were bowled out for just 102.

The result also marks India’s first defeat in the format in 2024 and makes 115 the lowest defended total by the opposition against them in men’s T20Is. Chasing 116, Abhishek Sharma didn’t have a memorable debut as he heaved to deep mid-wicket off Brian Bennett to fall for a four-ball duck.

Ruturaj Gaikwad was next to fall - caught at the crease while pushing a length ball from Blessing Muzarabani and the outside edge was snapped by the first slip. Debutant Riyan Parag tried to clear mid-on against Chatara, but the extra bounce took the splice edge to mid-off and fall for just two. One brought two for Chatara as Rinku Singh tried to heave across the line, but top-edge was caught by short fine-leg and fell for a duck.

The vociferous crowd at the Harare Sports Club further raised its voice when Dhruv Jurel was enticed to drive a slower ball from Luke Jongwe and hit straight to extra cover in the tenth over. The voices from the crowd hit the roof when Shubman Gill tried to play Raza through the leg-side, but was castled by the carrom ball from Zimbabwe’s captain.

Bishnoi took two fours off Raza, but the all-rounder had the last laugh by trapping the batter lbw. Avesh breathed life into India’s chase by getting a boundary off a thick inside edge from Jongwe, followed by swiping Wellington Masakadza for consecutive fours.

But the left-arm spinner bounced back as Avesh holed out straight to long-off on a full toss, followed by Raza finishing his spell by castling Mukesh Kumar through the gate. Washington brought India back in the chase by pulling Jongwe for six and four respectively to bring the equation to 18 runs off 12 balls.

But Muzarabani nailed his length balls to give away two runs in the 19th over and make the equation as 16 runs needed off the final over. Some electric fielding from Muzarabani and Jonathan Campbell meant Zimbabwe saved potential boundaries on consecutive balls.

Sundar went for a big swipe off Chatara, but Muzarabani took a tumbling catch at backward square leg to complete a massive win for Zimbabwe, leaving the players and fans in the stadium absolutely ecstatic.

Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza led from the front with his tidy 3/25 from his spin bowling, while Tendai Chatara bagged 3/16 from 3.1 overs.

Indian bowlers led by leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi produced a dominant effort to restrict an inexperienced Zimbabwe to 115 for nine in the first T20I of the five-match series.

Bishnoi (4/13) received adequate support from off-spinner Washington Sundar (2/11) as Zimbabwe struggled to stitch any meaningful partnership after they were invited to bat on a pitch that offered a good amount of bounce and carry.

However, 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 convincing.

After the early dismissal of Innocent Kaia, who dragged a Mukesh Kumar delivery onto his stumps, Wessly Madhevere (21, 22b) and Brian Bennett (22, 15b) added 34 runs in quick time.

The highlight of their alliance was the fifth over in which they plundered 17 runs off left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed.

Brief scores: Zimbabwe 115/9 in 20 overs (Clive Madande 29 not out; Ravi Bishnoi 4-13, Washington Sundar 2-11) beat India 102 in 19.5 overs (Shubman Gill 31; Tendai Chatara 3-16, Sikandar Raza 3-25) by 13 runs

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