India beat Zimbabwe to secure victory in T20 series

Yashasvi Jaiswal and captain Shubman Gill thrashed Zimbabwe’s bowlers all over the Harare Sports Club on Saturday to secure ten wickets in the fourth T20 international and win the series.

Chasing Zimbabwe’s 152 for seven, India overtook them with 28 balls to spare and took a 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

Left-hander Jaiswal scored 93 from 53 balls and was named player of the match, while Gill scored 58 from 39 deliveries.

“We talked about chasing,” Gill said at the post-game presentation. “We didn’t do that in the first game, so it was good that we did it.”

Zimbabwe won the first match by 13 runs last Saturday, but since then India have taken the lead and dominated the next three matches.

Although captain Sikandar Raza scored 46 runs off 28 balls, Zimbabwe failed to capitalise on their first good start to the series.

Wessly Madhevere (25) and Tadiwanashe Marumani (32) scored 63 for the first wicket after Zimbabwe were sent in to bat, but the openers fell in consecutive overs to part-time bowlers Abhishek Sharma and Shivam Dube.

India again chose to field only four specialist bowlers, including new captain Tushar Despande, who took the wicket of Raza despite conceding 30 runs in three overs.

Raza said he believed after his team’s innings that 160 was an average score, but admitted: “The way they batted, 180 would not have been enough.”

Jaiswal set the tone in the first over of the Indian innings by hitting three boundaries off Richard Ngarava.

There was no rest as India’s fifty came within four overs and the hundred within ten overs.

Jaiswal hit 13 fours and two sixes, while Gill hit six fours and two sixes.

The series ends on Sunday with the fifth T20 in Harare.

str/bsp