Zimbabwe 115 for 9 (Madande 29*, Bishnoi 4-13) beat India 102 (Gill 31, Chatara 3-16, Raza 3-25) by 13 runs
Abhishek fell for a four-ball duck, Ruturaj Gaikwad for 7, Parag’s debut lasted three balls and Rinku Singh lasted all of two, as India lost four wickets inside five overs. And when Sikandar Raza cleaned up Shubman Gill for 31, the whole of Harare believed.
The beginning of the take-down
Not many would have given Zimbabwe much of a chance at the halfway stage, but the bowlers found their lengths from the get-go. Raza opened the bowling with two spinners – Brian Bennett and Wellington Masakadza – and his decision was vindicated immediately; Abhishek top-edged Bennett in the first over to deep backward square leg.
Blessing Muzarabani then got Gaikwad to edge a back of a length ball to slip before Chatara picked two wickets in three balls to really unsettle India. Parag’s on-the-up drive only went as far as mid-off while Rinku could only manage a top-edge to a well-directed bouncer that ballooned straight up for short fine leg to take a simple catch.
At 28 for 4 after six overs, India were already staring down the barrel.
Zimbabwe finish the job
Gill began the repair work with Jurel but run-scoring remained an arduous task with Raza shuffling his bowlers, who stuck to their lengths. India managed just two fours between overs six to ten, but also lost Jurel at the end of this period; he was caught at extra cover, deceived by Luke Jongwe’s slower ball.
Raza then landed the big blow, beating Gill all ends up. He got the carrom ball to land on a length and had the Indian captain playing down the wrong line with the ball smashing into off pole. India were reduced to 47 for 6 in 10.2 overs, which soon became 61 for 7 in the 13th. Avesh and Washington then eased the nerves briefly with an 18-ball 23-run stand but when Avesh smashed a knee-high Masakadza full toss to long-off, Zimbabwe could already taste victory.
A first-ball wicket, a slew of boundaries
Zimbabwe had the perfect start to their innings when Wessly Madhevere drove Khaleel Ahmed straight down the ground for four. Their joy was short-lived though, with Mukesh Kumar uprooting Innocent Kaia’s leg stump with the first ball of his spell (the second over of the innings).
Bennett and Madhevere, however, took Zimbabwe forward swiftly. Bennett started off with a screeching square drive and then got a thick outside edge past second slip for four more. Khaleel was then taken for 17 off the fifth over between both batters, albeit in streaky fashion. Bennett first got a – fortunate – boundary over slips before Avesh made a meal of a relatively straightforward chance at deep third. Madhevere then pumped Khaleel through the midwicket and then got another edge over slip as Zimbabwe raced to 40 for 1 after five.
Bishnoi’s wrong ‘uns flummox Zimbabwe
Bishnoi, with his variations, was always expected to be a tricky customer for the Zimbabwe batters and he was among the wickets straight away. Almost exclusively bowling wrong ‘uns – 22 of his 24 balls were wrong ‘uns according to ESPNcricinfo’s logs – he started by cleaning up Bennett for a 15-ball 22. It was a bail-trimmer. In Bishnoi’s next over, it was Madhevere sent back – he missed a slog sweep and his off stump took a beating.
Raza struck a delightful six, straight down the ground off Avesh, while adding 23 off 24 balls for the fourth wicket with Dion Myers. But his wicket brought about a collapse of epic proportions. From 74 for 3 in the 12th over, Zimbabwe slipped to 90 for 9 in the 16th with Bishnoi and Washington the wreckers-in-chief.
A rush of blood got the better of Raza who holed out to deep midwicket off Avesh. A complete breakdown in communication saw Johnathan Campbell run out first ball before Washington picked two in two. He first had Myers caught and bowled before having Masakadza stumped first ball. Jongwe survived the hat-trick ball but fell in the next over, lbw to Bishnoi. Bishnoi picked his fourth wicket by removing Muzarabani, Zimbabwe losing six wickets for 16 runs in 23 balls.That Zimbabwe reached 115 was down to an unbroken last-wicket stand of 25 between Clive Madande and Chatara – and how useful those runs would eventually prove.
Ashish Pant is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo
