A day after suffering a shocking defeat in Harare, Shubman Gill-led Team India bounced back with a stellar 100-run win against Zimbabwe to level the 5-match series 1-1. Abhishek Sharma’s blazing maiden hundred followed by an unbeaten 87-run stand between Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rinku Singh powered the visitors to a mammoth 234-run total in their quota of 20 overs. In reply, pacers Mukesh Kumar (3/37) and Avesh Khan (3/15) picked up 3 wickets apiece as India bundled out the hosts for 134 and 8 balls to spare.
This is India’s biggest margin of victory in terms of runs against Zimbabwe in T20Is.
The young Indian side didn’t carry the baggage of a shock-13-run defeat in the series-opener as left-handed opener Abhishek blended power with grace for a scintillating 100-run knock that propelled India to a massive 234 for two on a track where batting wasn’t exactly easy.
The ask was already stiff and Indian bowlers got breakthroughs at regular intervals to bowl out Zimbabwe for 134 in 18.4 overs to set the record straight.
Abhishek got a reprieve on 27 when Wellington Masakadza dropped a regulation skier off Luke Jongwe. He never looked back after that. Having started his international run account with a pulled six off-spinner Brian Bennett, who had got the better of him on Saturday.
His fifty came off another pulled six behind square off medium pacer Dion Myers, whose 28-run over opened the floodgates during the back-10 for the visitors. The most pleasing shot to the eye was his inside-out six off rival skipper Sikandar Raza, lofting his off-break with the turn over extra cover boundary.
If that was elegance personified, how he muscled left-arm spinner Masakadza into the orbit with back-to-back sixes was a testimony to his brute power.
