On July 6, at the Harare Sports Club in Harare, Zimbabwe defeated the inexperienced Indian squad in the maiden Twenty20 international match.
India, having won the toss, bowled the hosts out for a pitiful 115 runs as Ravi Bishnoi shined with a four-wicket haul. When India came out to chase, everything went haywire as they lost wickets by the handful. When Shubman Gill attempted to break the shackles from the opposite end, he witnessed his batters give up.
The highest partnership in the Indian innings was a 23-run stand for the seventh wicket between Washington Sundar and Ravi Bishnoi. With the exception of Gill and Sundar, who each scored 31 and 27, no other batter scored more than ten. Bishnoi emphasised that India lost the game as a result of its inability to form alliances.
“We gave up. One factor was the absence of collaborations. We might have a different tale if we had partnerships that lasted 20 to 30 runs. We have the duty to lead the way, as assigned by the seniors, and we are making every effort to do so,” Bishnoi remarked.
Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag falter in their debut match.
After this victory, Zimbabwe’s head-to-head record in Twenty20 Internationals is now three wins out of nine for both sides. It is noteworthy that Sikandar Raza has been captaining the squad in the pivotal series, and the hosts entered the match fresh off an impressive eight-wicket victory against Bangladesh.
Also Read: Zimbabwe vs India Match Preview, 2nd T20I
The IPL 2024 sensations Abhishek Sharma and Riyan Parag made their international debuts in the opening Twenty20 International, while Dhruv Jurel made his T20I debut. Their debuts were forgettable for Abhishek and Parag, as the hitters left with two runs and a duck, respectively. As Jurel faltered with his 14-ball, 6-run innings, Rinku Singh also walked back for a duck, and India was bowled out for 102 runs.
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