By Team Sports Kida 
Chatara continues to make his mark for Zimbabwe by bowling effective overs. He consistently bowls at hard lengths and compels batters to work for runs.
Muzrambani takes another wicket as Madhever misses a short ball and gets hit in the top edge, before Muzrambani makes an excellent catch under pressure to seal India’s fate and deal them a major blow.
In this article, we will discuss the main points or high lights of Zimbabwe National Cricket Team vs India National Cricket Team Match Scorecard.
Top Run-Scorers in India vs. Zimbabwe ODIs:
| Player | Team | Matches | Runs | Highest Score | Average | Strike Rate | 100s | 50s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sachin Tendulkar | IND | 34 | 1,377 | 146 | 49.17 | 91.55 | 5 | 5 |
| Sourav Ganguly | IND | 36 | 1,367 | 144 | 42.71 | 73.82 | 3 | 7 |
| Andy Flower | ZIM | 36 | 1,298 | 145 | 40.56 | 75.29 | 1 | 11 |
| Alistair Campbell | ZIM | 38 | 1,227 | 105* | 35.05 | 73.82 | 1 | 10 |
| Grant Flower | ZIM | 38 | 1,165 | 102 | 31.48 | 66.23 | 1 | 5 |
India vs Zimbabwe 1st T20I
Zimbabwe made history when they upset world champion India to claim their inaugural T20 International in Harare, thanks to Sikandar Raza’s three wickets which restricted India to just 116/7. Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel all made their T20I debut but failed to make an impressionful statement with their performance.
Shubman Gill and Washington Sundar formed a promising partnership for India to advance deep into the game, but could not finish it off. Ravi Bishnoi led India’s bowlers in dominating Zimbabwe batsmen with some impressive performances by their bowlers.
The pitch was slow with some seam movement. Khaleel Ahmed started off well but Mukesh Kumar picked up the first wicket as Shubman played an inside edge onto his stumps for Mukesh to collect in an over. India soon found themselves struggling as their hosts took four wickets in powerplay to leave them reeling from defeat.
Virender Sehwag scored some significant blows but couldn’t move his team any further. When Ajay Thakur was taken down leg-slip by Jongwe and India looked set for collapse, Abhishek and Rohit Sharma came in and pulled things back some.
Clive Madande hit Ravi Bishnoi for six and two fours off in the last over of play to deny India victory, sending shockwaves through their camp and forcing them to work hard on their batting in future matches. Younger players and debutants should receive more international exposure while shot selection against spinners also needs careful consideration.
India vs Zimbabwe 2nd T20I
India will look to overcome its disappointing first T20I defeat and look to win in the second match of this five-match series. Led by Shubman Gill, they hope to improve upon their performance from their previous match; particularly their batting department where only three batsmen (Shubbman Gill, Avesh Khan and Washington Sundar) managed double figures (in which only Riyan Parag and Abhishek Sharma reached double digits). Youngsters such as Riyan Parag and Abhishek Sharma will aim to prove themselves worthy in this tournament setting.
Mukesh Kumar will open up India’s bowling, while Innocent Kaia and Wessly Madhevere from Zimbabwe opened their innings against him with ease. Unfortunately for them though, India set an elaborate trap which saw Kaia hit one short delivered by Mukesh which Kaia promptly hit for six with mistimed hit before being caught. Shivam Dube bowled next over with rapid delivery which got Madhevere out quickly.
Mukesh has bowled tight lines without any loose deliveries and forced Zimbabwe’s batsmen into scoring runs early in their innings. Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi bowled an excellent over, varying his pace while keeping tight lines.
India vs Zimbabwe 3rd T20I
India, after suffering an embarrassing defeat in their opening T20I against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club, quickly responded with an emphatic victory in their second T20I. Shubman Gill’s astounding 66 off 49 balls led India to an innings win at Harare Sports Club and they look set to build on this momentum and take an unassailable 2-1 lead in this five-match series against them.
Zimbabwe were overwhelmed in the opening ten overs before Dion Myers and Clive Madande forged an unlikely 77-run partnership to help regain some lost ground. Unfortunately for Zimbabwe though, India proved too powerful as they bowled them out for 182.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill will lead India’s attack while Brian Bennett and Richard Ngarava, two batsmen who were left out of Zimbabwe’s one-off Test squad but have a successful record in T20 Internationals, will open for them.
India openers Jaiswal and Gill made an opening partnership of 67 runs before Jaiswal was dismissed by Sikandar Raza in the ninth over. Gill found an able partner in Ruturaj Gaikwad (49 off 28 deliveries) as they guided India to an impressive total of 182/4.
Zimbabwe was dismal in their field play and allowed many extra runs and dropped catches, necessitating improvement in these departments if they are to compete with India in this tournament. Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza will hope that his dismal batting performance in the first two matches of this series can be improved through assistance from Clive Madande, Tendai Chatara and Dion Myers – an impressive middle order combination in their own right!
India vs Zimbabwe 4th T20I
After suffering an unexpected loss in the first T20I, India quickly rebounded with two convincing wins over Zimbabwe in subsequent T20Is. Shubman Gill’s batsmen led by Yashasvi Jaiswal led this charge as they reached successive half centuries under Shubman Gill with Jaiswal reaching his half century once more and playing an outstanding innings that cemented India’s unassailable lead in this series.
Ruturaj Gaikwad was also exceptional. He struck a six off the first ball of his innings before going on to reach his fifty – his fourth fifty of this T20I series and now an unbeaten total of 165 runs!
India reached their target in only 16 overs thanks to their impressive opening partnership of 154 between Kohli and Rahane – their fifth highest in T20Is and looking a promising pairing going forward.
Indian bowlers struggled to pick up wickets during their four-over spell against Pakistan but Washington Sundar kept India competitive by picking up three wickets during one four-over spell and now has four scalps in the series. India could switch up their line-up again between Avesh Khan and Khaleel Ahmed while also utilizing Tushar Deshpande’s debut as a spinner.
Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza was disappointed with his team’s performance in this match but remains optimistic that they can improve in the final game. He believes this may be because the wicket was on the slower side and they were chasing around 160, an ambitious target to set. Raza feels that if his side can improve in their performance during this final match then they can have a successful series and improve on previous performances overall.
India vs Zimbabwe 5th T20I
India defeated Zimbabwe 4-1 with an easy 42-run win at Harare Sports Club thanks to an excellent bowling performance from Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube, both taking two wickets each to give India a strong advantage in the match. Despite Zimbabwe’s disappointing batting display, their bowlers provided ample assistance for India, who held onto their lead through Washington Sundar’s two wickets alone as Zimbabwe struggled in this T20I match against India.
Mukesh Kumar struck quickly to dismiss Wessly Madhevere and Brian Bennett with his pace and variation, striking again to dismiss Dion Myers as Zimbabwe’s innings began to unravel.
Shubman Gill did not manage to capitalize on his start either, being caught behind off a short ball angled across him by Blessing Muzarabani off an offcut from Blessing. Abhishek Sharma’s stay was short lived too as he was bowled by Mukesh Kumar with an accurate length ball and then Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza was run out trying to extend his own good start following an impressive 13-ball 27.
India finally made an impressionful statement during the third over, when Sundar’s deliveries proved too good for Madhevere to handle and was caught at mid-wicket by Ravi Bishnoi with an accurate throw from Shivam Dube. Tendai Chatara too found himself struggling against Sundar’s bounce and speed of delivery and was trapped by Shivam Dube at mid-wicket by Ravi Bishnoi.
Brandon Mavuta then bowls wide, which results in one single run to bring India’s score to 125-4 and Mukesh Kumar will bowl his last over of the match on behalf of India.