By: Tarish Bhatt
It never looked like India was playing with a second-string squad, and in an away encounter, as despite some wayward bowling they managed to restrict Zimbabwe to a paltry total in the 1st ODI.
Once Zimbabwe were asked to bat by the Indian captain MS Dhoni, setting a competitive total was always going to be a daunting task for them. Indian pacers used to conditions to perfection, and allowed Zimbabwe to score just 168.
India’s new-ball attack of Dhawal Kulkarni and Barinder Sran proved to be unplayable for the Zimbabwe batters in the bowlers’ friendly conditions of the Harare Sports Club.
Both Kulkarni and Sran finished with two wickets apiece, rattling Zimbabwe’s top-order, while giving close to nothing. The hosts failed to recover from their stinging opening spell and were bundled inside 50 overs.
Jasprit Bumrah, meanwhile, was the wrecker-in-chief and ended with four wickets in the match. Spinners, too, played their part as Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal finished with a wicket each.
Elton Chigumbura top-scored for Zimbabwe. He, Craig Ervin and Sikandar Raza put up a fight, but their efforts proved too little owing to a superb bowling performance from the Indians.
The target for the Indian team could have been a lot less, had the bowlers not ended up giving 20 extra runs.
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