Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s superbly composed 81, backed by a disciplined bowling performance led by pacer Mayank Yadav, powered India to a comfortable 35-run win against Zimbabwe in the third and final T20I in Harare on Sunday, July 26.
Along with the win, India also completed a 3-0 sweep, a fine step-up after surrendering the previous two series to England (0-4) and Ireland (0-2).
Zimbabwe had to bat out of their skin to chase down a whopping 193 on a rather sluggish surface.
But they didn’t have enough patience or nous for it, ending up at a paltry 157/7 despite Ryan Burl making a fine unbeaten 54.
Just like in the previous games, Zimbabwe lost one too many wickets early as they couldn’t use the Power Play segment.
Pacer Yash Thakur (2/45) got rid
of Dion Myers and captain Sikandar Raza off consecutive deliveries in the fourth over as the hosts slipped to 34/3.
Earlier, Mayank (3/29) set the tone with a fiery opening spell, dismissing Brian Bennett with the first delivery of the innings as Zimbabwe struggled to get their chase underway.
It became a trend as the innings progressed despite Indians grassing as many as four catches and conceding two fours in another sloppy fielding effort.
Burl played a nice knock of assurance and formed a good 60-run alliance with Wesley Madhevere (28) for the fifth wicket.
The Zimbabweans played some forceful shots around the park, but the early damage was too big to mitigate.
India too suffered an early jolt, losing a struggling Abhishek Sharma for just two after opting to bat.
But Sooryavanshi showed another side of his batting during the 49-ball knock on a tacky track at the Harare Sports Club.
The 15-year-old made a measured start, scoring 11 runs off his first 10 balls and adding 15 from the next 10. He brought up his second T20I fifty in 31 deliveries.
There were a few brilliant shots as one would expect in a Sooryavanshi knock.
A straight punch for a boundary off Brad Evans’ yorker and then a 102-metre six off off-spinner Sikandar Raza showed his age-defying power and skills.
There was a touch of innovation too, as he reverse-swept spinner Wessly Madhevere for a boundary. But overall, it was a knock defined more by composure and restraint than flamboyance from the Bihar youngster.
But his opening partner Abhishek Sharma endured another disappointing outing, falling for a sixth successive low score after edging pacer Blessing Muzarabani behind to wicketkeeper Tadiwanashe Marumani.
Now, Abhishek’s last six knocks read: 10, 16, 3, 1, 8, 2, dating back to the third T20I at Nottingham against England in June.
But Sooryavanshi displayed brilliant maturity, forging a 75-run stand with Ishan Kishan (29) for the second wicket before adding another 50 runs with Shreyas Iyer (27) for the third.
But the left-hander fell close to a well-deserved century with Evans taking a brilliant catch at long-off off Madhevere.
Once Sooryavanshi and Shreyas departed, the middle-order batters struggled to impart the desired momentum to the innings.
It reflected in the 47 runs they scored in the last five overs and Rinku Singh’s cameo (25, 14b) was needed for India to move closer to 200.
(With PTI Inputs)
