New Delhi: Men in blue, under the skipper KL Rahul, started the tour with a dominating 10 wickets win against Zimbabwe. The Indian bowlers got Zimbabwe all out for 189 runs as Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill chased them without losing a wicket.
Indian bowlers shine while Zimbabwe’s tail fights back
KL Rahul’s captaincy had some positive highlights as he continued with Deepak Chahar and Mohammed Siraj who were taking wickets with the new ball. Indian bowlers showed great performance in swinging conditions as Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna and Axar Patel took three wickets each. Chahar and Siraj started the inning well but also leaked runs through wides and leg-byes. Chahar took the first wicket by dismissing Innocent Kaia as Samson took the catch in his second attempt. What followed was a batting collapse as Zimbabwe was 31/4. Again, Sikander Raza and captain Regis Chakabva came to the rescue. Their rescue operation did not last long as Raza was dismissed by Prasidh Krishna.
Chakabva looked to build a partnership with Luke Jongwe, but as Rahul introduced spin, it was Axar Patel’s show in Harare. Zimbabwe’s tail-enders tried to put up a fight but failed to help their side reach a fighting total. Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava posted a 70-run stand for the 9th wicket to put Indian bowlers in trouble. Prasidh came in to get Ngarava out and eventually, Zimbabwe’s inning wrapped up on 189. Chahar ended up with the figures of 7-0-27-3, while Prasidh Krishna and Axar Patel ended up with 8-0-50-3 and 7.3-2-24-3 respectively. Siraj also took a wicket and Kuldeep Yadav who proved to be economical, went wicketless.
Dhawan-Gill chase show
Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill posted their third-century stand to chase down the total. Dhawan started the inning with two back-to-back boundaries, however, the next boundary came at the 7.5 overs mark. Once the batters felt settled, they changed the gears and chased the target in 30.5 overs at a run rate of 6.22 per over.
Dhawan ended up scoring 81 off 113 while Gill posted his third ODI half-century by scoring 82 off just 72 balls. The only six hits for India came off Gill’s bat, while in the game Evans and Ngavara also hit a six each.
The second ODI will be played on August 20 at 12:45 pm IST.
