Shubhman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan finished the game with a powerful 192-run partnership
India vs Zimbabwe 1st ODI: Men in Blue registered a vibrant and astonishing 10-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the 1st ODI to take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match ODI series. With the missing of several senior players, team India showcased a dominant performance in all three departments. The bowlers were too good for Zimbabwe as they easily destroyed the Zimbabwe batting line-up and crushed the team in 40.3 overs.
Earlier, by winning the toss, captain Rahul decided to field first. After being put to bat, Zimbabwe was unable to get off to a solid start as the Indian pacers never gave them a gap to score runs. They ran riot with the new ball and offered most of the swing in the start, taking three wickets in the first Powerplay. Innocent Kaia, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wesley Madhavere, and Sean Williams not even scored 10 runs in the match.
Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava stitched a rigid partnership of 70 runs at last when 7 wickets were already lost. They added some runs to the total and pushed the team a little bit but, they could not post a huge score on the board. The collective effort of Indian bowlers bundled out Zimbabwe in 189 runs.
Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, and Axar Patel claimed three wickets each in the game. With the wickets, Axar Patel now breached the 50-wicket mark in ODI cricket. It took 42 games for him to attain the goal. With his exceptional spell with the new ball (3/27), Chahar registered his best bowling figures in ODI cricket and won the Player-of-the-match award. He has been out of the game for more than six months and hence he was a little bit nervous. He says his body and mind were not working together initially as the landing area was a little hard to start.
The chase was very much easy for India as the batters were hardly ever put under pressure. It was almost a friendly pitch to the batters with the sun beating the deck. The openers Shubhman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan finished the game in 30.5 overs with a powerful 192-run partnership. Dhawan scored 81 runs from 113 balls and Gill a more dynamic 82 from 72 deliveries.
Both the batters remained unbeaten in their 80s and took control of the game to run towards victory. Dhawan and Gill are enjoying their role as openers as this is their 3rd 100-run opening stand for India in the last 4 matches.
Zimbabwe bowlers were very much disappointed with the game as they failed to catch a single wicket in the game when India took many early wickets. Richard Ngarava started well with the ball but found no success.
With an early lead in the 3-match ODI series, India recorded their 13th ODI win against Zimbabwe. This is India’s longest-ever streak against a side in the ODI format. Also, this is India’s 3rd 10-wicket win against Zimbabwe.
K. L. Rahul was very much happy with the game and says picking up wickets was a crucial part of the game as the bowlers did really well in the game. He admitted that being away from the game was very hard for him and it is great to be back in the dressing room after being out due to injuries.
Regis Chakabava, the Zimbabwe skipper concede that the Indian bowlers bowled really well and the early wickets put them under pressure. But they will keep their heads up and prepare to bounce back in the next game. It was not easy for them to restrict the experienced Indian players, but they tried really hard to cross the 200-run milestone. As a precursor to the T20 World Cup, they will strive to play hard in the ODI series. The second ODI will be played at Harare Sports Club on 20th August, Saturday.
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