ZIM vs IND: 1st ODI Review – Gill, Dhawan complete India’s flawless win
India beat Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in the first ODI match at Harare Sports Club on Thursday to take a 1-0 lead in this three-match series. Indian skipper KL Rahul won the toss and elected to bowl first. Indian bowlers put impressive display to restrict the hosts to just 189 runs and then the Indian opening pair easily chased down the target with 10 wickets and 19.1 overs remaining.
Apart from Rahul, Deepak Chahar also returned to international cricket after long. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna started ahead of Avesh Khan and uncapped all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed had to settle for a bench role alongside Rahul Tripathi. For Zimbabwe, all-rounder pair Sean Williams and Ryan Burl returned to the starting eleven after missing out Bangladesh series.
Chahar took three early wickets to dismiss Zimbabwe’s top order and those strikes were followed by similar spells from Prasidh Krishna and Axar Patel who took three wickets each. Siraj also took one wicket and Kuldeep Yadav bowled the best economical spell for India but couldn’t get any wicket. Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill opened an inning for team India ahead of Rahul and Ishan Kishan. Dhawan scored unbeaten 81 runs off 113 balls and Gill remained not out on 82 runs to guide India to an easy win.
Zimbabwe vs India 1st ODI Top Performers:
Shubman Gill: The 22-year-old youngster continued his good form with another big knock of 82 runs off 72 balls with the help of 10 fours and a six at a strike rate of 113.89. He scored the highest 205 runs in just three ODI matches against West Indies, including an unbeaten 98-run knock in the last match.
Deepak Chahar: The returning pacer took three wickets while conceding just 27 runs at an economy rate of 3.86. He also proved his fitness by bowing seven consecutive overs during his spell. He won the Player of the Match award and is likely to be part of India’s squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022.
What’s next for Zimbabwe and India:
The two teams meet in the next game at the same venue on August 20.
