In some ways, India being reduced to 44/3 inside the Powerplay after being asked to bat first by Zimbabwe was the perfect start for both sides in Harare on Sunday.
Zimbabwe were desperate to bounce back from a poor outing on Saturday and to show they are a better side than that 10-wicket drubbing suggested. For India, it was already clear that their top order is not an area of concern, with the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma (and even Ruturaj Gaikwad, left out for the fifth match) piling on the runs.
So Zimbabwe got what they evidently wanted after winning the toss, and India wouldn’t have minded their middle order getting a platform to show what they are capable of. Sanju Samson made the most of the opportunity, aided by cameos from Riyan Parag and Shivam Dube, to power India to 167/6. Zimbabwe threatened in patches during the run-chase but it was a target 42 runs too far as India wrapped up the series 4-1.
𝙒𝙄𝙉𝙉𝙀𝙍𝙎!#TeamIndia clinch the T20I series 4⃣-1⃣ 👏👏
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/TZH0TNJKro#ZIMvIND pic.twitter.com/ulza0Gwbd7
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 14, 2024
Samson steps up
When the scoreboard read 13/0 after one legal delivery, Zimbabwe would have feared the worst, but Sikandar Raza – the fighter that he is – bounced back with the wicket of the in-form Jaiswal. Zimbabwe were ordinary with their catching once again but both Abhishek and Gill missed out on converting their second chances after being dropped.
There was a buzz in the air as the ever-popular Samson came out to bat in the fourth over. He was soon joined by Parag and the Rajasthan Royals’ duo started to rebuild from 44/3 in the Powerplay. Parag is a confident young man but even he wouldn’t have been all that pleased if he returned from his maiden international series for India with just two runs to his name. There he was with Samson, who had only faced seven deliveries in one innings before Sunday.
After a patient start, the duo moved through the gears. In the ninth over, Samson danced down the track against Raza, held his shot for a brief moment to see what the bowler was delivering, and then smashed it over the bowler’s head for a six.
FIFTY for Sanju Samson!
The #TeamIndia vice-captain reaches his 2nd T20I half-century 👏👏
Follow The Match ▶️ https://t.co/TZH0TNJcBQ#ZIMvIND pic.twitter.com/7sHVUYYibh
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 14, 2024
Shortly after, there was a 107m six by Parag when he picked up the length against Brandon Mavuta and played a pick-up shot that sent the ball onto the roof of the Harare Sports Club.
Samson then got to 300 sixes in T20s, also sending the ball onto the roof with a 110m hit down the ground off Mavuta. The leggie kept going away from Samson outside off but got punished when he went to the fourth-stump channel. After that monster hit, Samson’s six off the very next ball was an even better shot, caressed over extra cover, to the longer side of the field too. Samson, in fact, reached his half- century with four sixes and no fours.
After Parag and Samson fell, Dube got his chance to provide a finish, something he did admirably in the T20 World Cup final not so long back. He took full toll off some bad death bowling by Richard Ngarava in the 19th over, hitting two fours sandwiching a 96m six. Rinku Singh chipped in at the end as India got 54 runs off the last 30 balls.
Dube shines with the ball
While Mukesh Kumar impressed in the Powerplay and came back at the end to pick up a four-for, it was Dube who impressed with the ball in the middle overs. Zimbabwe had a better Powerplay than India, reaching 47/2 after six overs in the run-chase. As he has done in the last couple of matches, Gill went to Dube and Abhishek in tandem and with a little bit of pressure building, the part-time bowlers delivered admirably in their spells.
Dube stuck to hard lengths and pace variations on an up-and-down pitch and even got the occasional delivery to seam away. His multi-dimensionality wasn’t used much at all at the T20 World Cup, but with wickets of Dion Myers and Johnathan Campbell, the Mumbaikar finished with 2/24 and walked away with the Player of the Match award. “It’s always special to contribute, as an all-rounder, to contribute with both bat and ball,” he’d say later.
For his all-round impact in the 5th T20I, Shivam Dube wins the Player of the Match award 🏆👏
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/TZH0TNJcBQ#TeamIndia | #ZIMvIND | @IamShivamDube pic.twitter.com/yxO8KifBK5
— BCCI (@BCCI) July 14, 2024
Another performance worthy of note was that of Washington Sundar, who bowled just the two overs in this match, but picked up the Player of the Series award for his 8 wickets in five outings at an economy Rate of just over 5 runs per over.
In the end, it was a job well done by Gill & Co after their hiccup last Saturday when the rusty visitors lost the opener. It was a wake-up call for this young bunch, who ticked quite a few boxes on their way to a comprehensive series win.
Brief scores: India 167/6 in 20 overs (Samson 58, Shivam Debe 26; Blessing Muzarabani 2/19) beat Zimbabwe 125 all out in 18.3 overs (Dion Myers 34, Faraz Akram 27, Tadiwanashe Marumani 27; Mukesh Kumar 4/22, Shivam Dube 2/25) by 42 runs
