Yashasvi Jaiswal shuts out Zimbabwe, helps India clinch T20I series

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was part of the India’s T20 World Cup-winning squad staked claim for a permanent slot to replace Rohit Sharma in the national T20 side, after scoring 93 off 53 balls to lead India to a 10-wicket win over India and take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

Zimbabwe were put into bat in this July 13 match by Shubman Gill and began well, putting on 63 for the first wicket in 8.3 overs. It was a good platform but unfortunately, for them, they didn’t have enough batting depth to build on it. They relied on No. 3 Brian Bennett and No. 4 Sikandar Raza, the skipper. While Bennett was not that brisk in scoring as in earlier games, making nine off 14 balls, Raza put up a fight, hitting 46 off 28 balls.

However, beyond Raza, everyone failed and Zimbabwe ended with a below par 152/7 in 20 overs.

Left-arm pacer Khaleel Ahmed picked 2/32 while Tushar Deshpande, Washington Sundar, Abhishek Sharma and Shivam Dube took one wicket each.

India then blazed to the total in just 15.2 overs with Jaiswal being harsh on the Zimbabwean bowlers. Blessing Muzarabani and Richard Ngarava were the most economical of the host bowlers and their rate was 7.5 and 9 respectively. The rest conceded beyond 10 as India reached 156/0, scoring at 10.17 an over.

“I was trying to play my shots and I enjoyed my game. When the ball was new it was coming onto the bat. When the ball got old, it was slow. I understood and changed my game,” Jaiswal was quoted as saying in the presentation.

Raza, the Zimbabwe skipper, saw hope for his side.

“Today is the day you hold your heads high and say they batted better. I am very sure we will be a very competitive side in a short time,” he said before adding, “They batted really well and batted us out of the game.”

The teams now play the final game on Sunday, July 13 and the Zimbabweans want to finish the series 3-2 to earn some respect.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, India cricket, Zimbabwe