By: Tarish Bhatt
It was Zimbabwe’s best performance on the tour. They batted well, showed resilience with the ball, and eventually manged to register a narrow two-run win over India in the 1st T20.
India were in the match till the last over, and were cruising with MS Dhoni and Manish Pandey at the crease, but an exceptional last over from Neville Madziva stunned the visitors.
Pandey’s wicket in the 18th over put the match in balance, but Dhoni’s presence, and some lusty blows from Axar Patel shifted the match in India’s favour, but at the end it turned out to be Zimbabwe’s match.
For Zimbabwe, Chamu Chibhabha was the pick of the bowlers and provided two crucial breakthroughs, Taurai Muzarabani also took a couple of wickets, while Donald Tiripano and Madziva took one apiece.
Earlier, Elton Chigumbura played a gritty knock to help Zimbabwe reach a competitive total, first time on the tour against India. Chigumbura provided the late surge with some lusty blows while also completing his unbeaten fifty.
Indian bowlers, again, managed to rip Zimbabwe’s middle-order apart, with Jasprit Bumrah taking two wickets, while Rishi Dhawan, Axar Patel and Yuzvendra Chahal taking one apiece.
Zimbabwe at one time were reduced to 111 for five, but Chigumbura played a fighting knock towards the end to help them give India a scare first time in the series by positing 170 on the board.
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