Yashasvi Jaiswal's quick-fire innings of 93* off 53-balls and Shubman Gill's scintillating innings of 58* off 39 balls helped India registered a comfortable ten-wicket win over Zimbabwe in a one-sided game of the fourth T20 international match and take an unassailable 3-1 lead to seal the series at Harare.
 |
| Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill shared a record-breaking unbeaten 156-run stand for the first wicket © BCCI |
Zimbabwe vs India 4th T20I at Harare Sports Club, 13th July 2024 - Zimbabwe's most reliable batting line-up was not enough to put up a challenge against India's young IPL stars. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill chased down the target of 153 with ease, reaching the target in just 15.2 overs. We haven't seen such a brilliant batting display in the series so far.
While Zimbabwe hit all 10 fours in 20 overs, Jaiswal and Gill hit the same number of fours in their first four overs and won by ten wickets, giving India an unbeatable lead of 3-1. Now another match is to be played on Sunday. Before this match, Zimbabwe had lost at least two wickets in the powerplay in all three T20 matches of the series. However, today Wesley Madhevere and Tadiwanashe Marumani gave the team the lead by adding 63 runs in 8.4 overs.
In the third over, Marumani was dropped at mid-on by Shivam Dube on 3. An overthrow that went for the boundary in the same over also helped them and Marumani changed gears by dismissing debutant Tushar Deshpande, who had conceded 21 runs in his first two overs. Gill turned to spin early inside the powerplay and managed to curb the scoring; eventually Marumani was dismissed in an attempt to make inroads against India's part-time bowlers, who needed to fill the fifth bowler's quota.
On the fourth ball from Abhishek Sharma, he tried to pull and hit the ball towards the longest part of the boundary, where Rinku Singh was waiting at deep midwicket. This gave Gill the opportunity to bring in Dube from the other end to complete his quota of fifth bowlers, but he too struck - in his first over, he forced the other set batsman, Madhevere, to pull a short ball to Rinku at deep square leg.
Abhishek could have picked up his second wicket in the T20I, but Rituraj Gaikwad gave Brian Bennett a lifeline by holing Dolly at extra cover. However, missing the chance didn't hurt India much. Raza was needed to rescue Zimbabwe as they suddenly lost 4 wickets for 33 runs after a solid start. After being guilty of running out Jonathan Campbell, Raza continued to score runs until he switched over with five overs remaining.
On 21 off 17 balls at the time, he smashed Washington Sundar for a 90-metre long six over deep midwicket, and then dismissed Khaleel Ahmed in his next over, in which he smashed a four and a six. The 16th and 17th overs yielded 31 runs and Zimbabwe moved towards 160. They fell eight runs short, thanks to two excellent overs from Deshpande, who got Raza his first international wicket, and dismissed Khaleel. Zimbabwe posted a competitive, if not match-winning, total.
India's victory started with Jaiswal hitting three fours in the first over of left-arm pacer Richard Nagawara. Jaiswal was in no mood to stop there, hitting four more fours to Tendai Chatara in his first over, which was the third over of the innings. The pacers gave him width and he kept taking them away through point, alternately hitting them down the ground and playing the full-blooded cut. India reached their half-century in just 3.5 overs, with Jaiswal contributing 39 runs.
Jaiswal reached his fifty off 29 balls and then played the best shot of the day when he swept a delivery from Raza inside-out to extra cover. Beaten in flight, he quickly lofted it through the line and split the small gap between deep cover and wide long-off.
Gill then took charge of the innings and played superbly against the soft seam-up of Faraz Akram. Gill scored his second consecutive half-century off 35 balls, which was slower than Jaiswal, but still effective.
As the match headed into the final stages, the only point of interest was whether Jaiswal could make 17 of the 18 runs needed to complete a hundred. He couldn't; he finished unbeaten on 93, a masterful performance that reflected the kind of spirit that had won India the T20 World Cup after 17 years last month.