India’s post-World Cup celebrations were put on hold as Zimbabwe surprised the defending champions and handed them their first T20I loss in 2024. After being held to 115 for 9, the Zimbabwean bowlers unleashed a fierce attack, taking wickets consistently to dismiss India for 102 in 19.5 overs.
India quickly crumbled, much to the delight of the raucous Harare crowd—the Harare Sports Club was filled to capacity—thanks to the outstanding ball play of Tendai Chatara and Sikandar Raza, who each claimed three wickets.
After winning the toss, India elected to bowl first and gave debuts to Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, and Dhruv Jurel, playing an entirely different XI from the one that won in Bridgetown. Zimbabwe got off to a strong start, but Washington Sundar (2 for 11) and Ravi Bishnoi (a T20 career high of 4 for 13) engineered a collapse. It seemed like a straightforward enough chase at the midway point, but the Zimbabwe bowlers had other ideas.
India lost four wickets in five overs as Abhishek went for a four-ball duck, Ruturaj Gaikwad for seven, Parag for three balls, and Rinku Singh for two. And all of Harare believed when Sikandar Raza cleared Shubman Gill for 31.
With one wicket remaining, India needed to score 16 runs in the last over in order to win while Washington was still in the game. To create riots in Harare, Chatara, on the other hand, bowled a composed 20th over, giving up only two runs off four deliveries and dismissing Washington off the fifth. This is the lowest total defended against anybody in Harare as well as the lowest total ever against India in a T20I. In any format, it was Zimbabwe’s first matchup with India since 2016.
A first-ball wicket, a slew of boundaries
Wessly Madhevere gave Zimbabwe the ideal start to their innings as he hit Khaleel Ahmed for four straight down the ground. But Mukesh Kumar’s first ball of his spell—the second over of the innings—uprooted innocent Kaia’s leg stump, so their happiness was short-lived.
But Madhevere and Brian Bennett moved Zimbabwe ahead quickly. Bennett got off to a screaming start with a square drive, and he went on to get four more with a strong outside edge beyond second slip. Then, however in a streaky manner, Khaleel was taken for 17 off the fifth over between both batsmen. Bennett took the first wicket with a fortuitous boundary over slips, and Avesh then made light work of a very simple chance at deep third. After five overs, Zimbabwe shot up to 40 for 1, thanks to a ballistic shot from Madhevere that drove Khaleel over the midwicket and another edge over slip.
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