At the Harare Sports Club in this city on Sunday, India thrashed Zimbabwe by a massive margin of hundreds of runs in the second Twenty20 International of the ongoing five-game series.
The game’s standout player was left-handed opener Abhishek Sharma, who amassed his maiden century and the third-fastest century by an Indian in Men in Blue T20 international history.
The visiting team’s innings had not started well, as captain Shubman Gill was removed in the game’s second over after he surrendered a catch direct to mid-on.
After a rough beginning, it took Abhishek 33 deliveries to achieve the fifty-run milestone. After that, he was dismissed on the very next delivery, but not before he reached his next fifty in just 13 balls, which included three consecutive sixes off Wellington Masakadza’s over.
India’s score reached 234 runs at the end of 20 overs because to the efforts of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Rinku Singh, who continued the fire ignited by Sharma by scoring 87 runs in the final six overs.
After innocent Kaia hit a boundary to begin the second innings, Mukesh Kumar responded well, bowling him out on the game’s third ball.
Brian Bennett got off to a strong start, scoring 26 runs off of just nine deliveries, showing the Zimbabwean team’s attacking attitude. However, he suffered the same fate as Kaia, being bowled out by Kumar, who claimed his second wicket of the day.
It was quite tough for the Zimbabwean team to establish any kind of rhythm in the game because of frequent wickets and the steadily growing run pace. Between the 72 and 76-run threshold, they lost three wickets, sealing the victory for the Indian team.
The sole bright spot for the side on the day was opener Wesley Madhevere, who scored 43 runs off 39 deliveries before being bowled out by superb bowler Ravi Bishnoi, who picked two wickets and only allowed nine runs to be scored off of him in four overs.
It was only a matter of time after Madhevere’s wicket fell until the Indian team cleaned out their opponents, with Zimbabwe getting out for 134 runs in 18.4 overs.
With the third game of the five-game series set to take place at the Harare Sports Club on Wednesday, the series is currently level at one.
Brief score:
India 234/2 (20.0) (Abhishek Sharma 100 off 47, Ruturaj Gaikwad 77 off 47; Blessing Muzarabani 30/1 in four overs)
Zimbabwe 134/10 (Wesley Madhevere 43 off 39, Brian Bennett 26 off 9; Avesh Khan 15/3 in three overs.