In the afterglow of India’s T20 World Cup triumph, their second-string team suffered an upset at the hands of Zimbabwe in a low-scoring thriller in Harare. Zimbabwe, with a point to prove after failing to qualify for the tournament in West Indies and USA, staged an incredible comeback with the ball after a poor performance with the bat.
40/2 after the PowerPlay is certainly a decent score on a pitch that wasn’t exactly a featherbead. However, Zimbabwe failed to bat well in the middle phase of the innings as the visitors struck at regular intervals. Zimbabwe ran the risk of being bowled out under 100 as Ravi Bishnoi finished his spell with a four-wicket haul. However, the last wicket pair of Clive Madande and Tendai Chatara dug in and batted out the remaining overs, dragging their side close to 120.
By the end of the fifth over, India were knee deep in trouble as Tendai Chatara dismissed both debutant Riyan Parag and Rinku Singh in a matter of three deliveries to leave the visitors reeling at 22/4. India went on to lose half their side inside 10 overs and needed 41 runs in the final five overs, with Washington Sundar carrying their faint hopes.
Blessing Muzarabani and Chatara kept Washington at bay, thus increasing the pressure. With the equation reading 14 off 3, Chatara got the job done off the penultimate delivery to hand Zimbabwe a memorable win.
Brief scores: Zimbabwe115/9 in 20 overs (Clive Madande 29*; Ravi Bishnoi 4/13, Washington Sundar 2/11) beat India102 in 19.5 overs (Shubman Gill 31; Tendai Chatara 3/16, Sikandar Raza 3/25) by 13 runs
Zimbabwe win the first T20I by 13 runs 🎉 #ZIMvIND pic.twitter.com/cy88BNqogL
— Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) July 6, 2024
