Power-packed fifties from Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, followed by a disciplined bowling performance, powered India to a commanding 90-run victory over Zimbabwe in the second T20I in Harare on Saturday, July 25, sealing an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Chasing 220 was never going to be easy for the Africans and the fate of the game was sealed when they lost five wickets inside nine overs.
Zimbabwe were bundled out for a meagre 129, falling well short of India’s imposing 219/5, built around Ishan Kishan’s 81 and Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 60.
The series victory over Zimbabwe will come as a major boost for new T20I skipper Shreyas Iyer, who had endured consecutive series losses to Ireland (0-2) and England (0-4).
But Zimbabwe began
the hunt in earnest through Brian Bennett (32, 19b, 3×4, 3×6), who creamed debutant pacer Yash Thakur for a six and a boundary in a row.
But Thakur (2/30) extracted a quick revenge, as an attempted ramp didn’t go past wicketkeeper Kishan.
Once the first blood was drawn, Indian bowlers didn’t let the Zimbabwe batters off the hook.
There were little pockets of fight, such as 20s by Ryan Burl and Tadi Marumani, but nothing good enough to challenge the Indian bowlers for a sustained period.
Even part-timers Tilak and Abhishek Sharma (3/17) found themselves in the list of wicket-takers as India completed the stroll.
But circumstances that led to the employment of part-timers might just give India some worries.
The only sour note for India came when pacer Prince Yadav (2/10 in 1.2 overs) walked off clutching his hamstring, casting a shadow over the emphatic victory over Zimbabwe and raising fresh concerns over the team’s injury management.
The genesis of that landslide victory was in India’s intent-filled batting effort led by Kishan and Tilak.
Asked to bat first, India were in early trouble at 29/2.
Kishan first stitched together a 66-run partnership for the third wicket with skipper Shreyas Iyer (25) before adding another 94 runs with Tilak Varma for the fourth wicket, helping India recover from the early wobble.
Kishan paced his knock well, first focusing on stabilising India’s innings before shifting gears. He reached his fifty off 31 deliveries and then needed just 13 more balls to add another 31 runs as he accelerated.
The onside play was the hallmark of his knock, peppering the regions around mid-wicket with constant big hits.
Off-spinner Bennett was clobbered for two boundaries to that part of the field while pacer Brad Evans was punished for 4, 4 and a 6 through the onside.
Tilak, on the other hand, doused the talk about his strike-rate for now, playing a sensational supporting knock and reaching a half-century in 23 deliveries.
The left-hander took on Zimbabwe’s premier pacer Blessing Muzarabani, striking three consecutive fours. The pick of the lot was the third, a deft late dab behind point that made excellent use of the bowler’s pace.
Brute power was on display too when Tilak lifted Evans for a six over mid-wicket.
Their assault was so faultless as India amassed 61 runs in the last five overs.
Before Kishan marshalled India’s innings around him, India lost openers Abhishek and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi early.
Abhishek lobbed Muzarabani to Ryan Burl at point.
Sooryavanshi looked all set for his second consecutive half-century, reaching 20 off nine deliveries that contained a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 4 off Richard Ngarava.
But Ngarava had the last laugh, as Sooryavanshi skied an into-the-body bouncer to Muzarabani at mid-on.
But from thereon, it was India’s show all the way.
(With PTI Inputs)
