AFTER the heroics of Saturday, which provided a breath of fresh air for the Chevrons and sent their fans into song and dance, can Zimbabwe have the character to beat India and win the Twenty20 worldwide series at Harare Sports Club today?
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All-rounder Rishi Dhawan, representing India for the first time since the Australia tour and making his T20 global debut, put up an ordinary effort leaking 42 runs in four overs.
Dhoni and his boys, who won the preceding One Day International (ODI) series 3-0, will be aiming to bounce back in the series with a win on Monday.
The ODI series was thoroughly dominated by the young Indians some of whom made their worldwide debut.
Mutumbami was injured during Zimbabwe’s victory over India in the first T20I. His bowlers-especially Rishi Dhawan and Jaydev Unadkat-let him down and the hosts raced to 170 plus, amassing 60 in the last 5 overs. Dhoni remained unbeaten, and was not able to score the final four runs off the last ball. “The wicket wasn’t easy for shot-making because the ball was keeping low a little”, said Singh.
Manish Pandey, who made 48, would have liked to finish the game for India but was dismissed in the 18th over.
In the wake of severe backlash endured by Zimbabwe cricketers over their dismal performance in the just-concluded one-day global series, India’s interim head coach Sanjay Bangar on Friday said that his side are anticipating the hosts to come out stronger in the upcoming three-match T20I series.
After losing recent series to Afghanistan and Bangladesh and failing to even make it into the Super 10 stage of the World Twenty20 in March, it was a welcome boost and should have achieved captain Graeme Cremer’s objective of winning back some fan support.
The men in blue, who looked completely unchallenged in the 50-over format, walked into the shortest format with the confidence of repeating their stellar performance.
Buoyed by his side’s performance on Saturday, Graeme Cremer opted to bat, but Sran, one of the two changes in the Indian side, put the openers on the mat early by constantly shaping the ball in.
Middle-order batsman Peter Moor (31) tried to steady the innings for the home side but failed to find support from his teammates.
The win in the first T20I in Harare has given Zimbabwe something to cling onto.
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But ahead of the T20I series, the hosts will take some encouragement from past results agaist India. On the other hand, Dhoni will look to test his bench strength and provide the likes of Mandeep Singh and others an opportunity to feature in the eleven. Dhawal Kulkarni and Barinder Sran are likely to return while Jayant Yadav, the offspinner, could get a game as well.
