Zimbabwe captain Regis Chakabva admitted that the Indian bowlers bowled really well and put them under pressure after KL Rahul won the toss and decided to bowl first. The hosts were bundled out for a paltry score of 189 runs and India won by 10 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday.
Deepak Chahar and Mohammed Siraj breathed down the neck of the hosts’ batters with their accurate line and length. Both the bowlers got the help from the surface and there was also a lot of swing on offer. Chahar scalped three wickets in his opening spell while Siraj also picked up a wicket to leave Zimbabwe on the ropes at 31-4.
The home team could not recover after taking early blows and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. In fact, Zimbabwe did well to post 189 runs on the board as they were 110-8 at one stage. However, Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava were able to bail their team out of the jail.
On the other hand, India cruised to the target of 190 runs after Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill scored unbeaten fifties for the visitors. Dhawan took 113 balls to score 81 runs while Gill raced to 82 runs off just 72 balls.
Regis Chakabva was disappointed with the team’s performance but gave credit to the Indian bowlers for putting them under pressure.
Chakabva said in the post-match presentation, “The Indian bowlers bowled really well, put the pressure on us and we lost our way after the first 4-5 overs. It was good to see Richi (Ngarava) and Brad give us that partnership at the end. We needed to have one or two big partnerships, but it didn’t happen today. Our bowlers tried to come hard at them, but obviously, they batted really well and took the game away from us. We will have a chat today, keep our heads up and bounce back strong on Saturday.”
Zimbabwe was totally outplayed by India as the tourists dominated with both bat and ball. The young Indian team was too good for the hosts and the Regis Chakabva-led team will have to play out of their skin to challenge the visitors.
It was a complete performance from the Indian team and they will look to carry the same impetus in the remaining two matches. The second game will be played on Saturday at the same venue.
