ZIM vs IND 2024: Zimbabwe vs India, 1st T20I - Who Said What?

Zimbabwe defeated India by 13 runs in the first T20I at the Harare Sports Club on Saturday, July 6, to take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

India won the toss and invited Zimbabwe to bat first on a pitch that looked decent for batting. Mukesh Kumar struck on the first ball of the second over to send Innocent Kaia back to the hut for a golden duck. Wesley Madhevere and Brian Bennett hit three and five boundaries, respectively, as Zimbabwe got to 40 at the end of five overs. However, Madhevere and Bennett were dismissed in quick succession as the hosts dropped to 51/3 in the eighth over.

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Captain Sikandar Raza forged a 23-run partnership with the returning Dion Myers to steady the innings. However, two wickets fell in the 12th over as Zimbabwe lost half their side for 74 runs. The next four wickets fell in the space of a few minutes as the African side were struggling at 90/9 in the 16th over. However, Zimbabwe found a saviour in Clive Madande, who helped them bat out the 20 overs along with Tendai Chatara. The last-wicket partnership yielded 25 runs as Raza's men finished on 115/9. Madande remained unbeaten on 29 off 25 balls. Ravi Bishnoi was the pick of the bowlers for India as he bagged a four-for, conceding just 13 runs in his four overs.

In reply, India lost Abhishek Sharma for a four-ball duck as Brian Bennett bowled a wicket maiden to start the innings. The Indian top and middle-order crumbled for the Men in Blue, and the onus was on captain Shubman Gill to bail his team out from an ominous position at 22/4 in five overs.

Dhruv Jurel added 21 runs together with Shubman before falling in the 10th over. Shubman played some fine strokes en route to a 29-ball 31. He was dismissed by his opposite number, who was excellent with his captaincy on the day.

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Washington Sundar was the only accomplished batter left for India, who were in dire straits at 47/6 at the 11-over mark. Ravi Bishnoi and Avesh Khan chipped in with a few boundaries but couldn't stick around for too long. In the end, Sundar needed to hit 16 runs off the last over, which was being bowled by Tendai Chatara. However, he was eventually dismissed for a 34-ball 27 as India were bundled out for 102. Raza and Chatara both bagged their respective three-fer for Zimbabwe to orchestrate a famous win.

ZIM vs IND, First T20I - Who said What?

Losing captain, Shubman Gill said:

We bowled well, but we let ourselves down in the field. Looked a bit rusty. We wanted to take time, enjoy the batting, but didn't pan out that way. Halfway down, we'd lost five wickets. Would've been best if I'd stayed till the end. Disappointed with the way I got out and how it panned out. Washi kept hopes up. When you have to chase 115 and your No. 10 bat is the one you want winning you the game, you know something's gone wrong.

Player of the Match and winning captain, Sikandar Raza said:

Feel really happy. Gotta take one day at the time. Job's not done, series not over. I don't think it's a 116 wicket, it's nor a wicket where you get all out for 103. So, credit to the bowlers. Was I not captaining that series, or that game? 115 wasn't many. I told not to care about the result, just wanted to show fight and give the crowd what they wanted. We were brilliant in the field. Not perfect, but that shows there's room for improvement. We knew the fans will be there encouraging us. We felt like we were a team of 12, again