Smells like team spirit
Harare, July 10
Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad produced high-quality knocks before the bowlers did their part as India outplayed Zimbabwe by 23 runs in the third T20I of their five-match series here today.
Gill (66 off 49 balls), Yashasvi Jaiswal (36 off 27) and Gaikwad (49 off 28) propelled India to 182/4 after the visitors opted to bat on a fresh pitch.
Zimbabwe were never really in the hunt despite an entertaining effort from No. 4 Dion Myers (65 not out off 49), and ended at 159/6.
Washington Sundar, who is likely to play a bigger role in India’s T20 set-up after the retirement of Ravindra Jadeja, struck thrice while Avesh Khan took a couple of wickets.
The fourth T20I will be played here on Saturday. After a loss in the series opener, India have restored normal service with back-to-back victories.
After Avesh Khan bounced out opener Wessly Madhevere in the second over, the wickets kept falling for the home team. However, Zimbabwe steadied the ship after losing their first five wickets for 39 runs. The 77-run stand off 57 balls between Myers and Clive Madande (37 off 26) fuelled their innings but it was not meant to be.
Earlier, India made some interesting selection calls. They duly inducted World Cup winners Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (12 not out off 7) and Shivam Dube into the playing XI, leaving out the likes of Riyan Parag in the middle-order. As for Zimbabwe, they were poor in the field to say the least, conceding extra runs and grassing regulation catches throughout the innings.
Brief scores: India: 182/4 in 20 overs (Gill 66, Gaikwad 49; Muzarabani 2/25); Zimbabwe: 159/6 in 20 overs (Myers 65*; Sundar 3/15, Avesh 2/39).
Remarkable effort
Gill hailed their “remarkable” team effort on a two-paced wicket as India got their second successive win to snatch the lead.
“It was a crucial match for us and the way we started with batting and bowling, it was remarkable,” Gill said during the post-match presentation.
Asked if he was a little disappointed that the team couldn’t reach 200 in the third T20, Gill said: “…the wicket was a bit double-paced, the odd ball was gripping and it was not easy to hit the length ball.
