India’s power-hitter Shivam Dube was delighted to contribute with both bat and ball in the fifth T20I at the Harare Sports Club, Harare after the visitors registered a 42-run win to seal the series by 4-1. Dube smashed a fine cameo of 12-ball 26 with the help of two fours and as many sixes to get India to 167 after Sikandar Raza decided to bowl first.
Dube also contributed with the ball as he returned with impressive figures of 2-25 in his quota of four overs. The right-arm medium pacer accounted for Zimbabwe’s top-scorer Dion Myers and Jonathan Campbell.
Dube was awarded Player of the Match for his fine performance. He said in the post-match presentation, “It’s always a special thing to contribute in both departments. Took some wickets, very happy. In T20s, you can struggle but one shot and you can get back. The ground is big, we enjoy playing here, the atmosphere and the people are amazing.”
On the other hand, Washington Sundar had an impressive series as he bagged eight wickets (most in the series) in five matches at an average of 11.62. The off-spinner bowled with a parsimonious economy rate of 5.17, which was the best for any bowler in the series.
Sundar was awarded the Player of the Series for his consistent performances with the ball. He said in the post-match presentation, “Good to have finished with a win. After the first game, the conditions were similar to South Africa getting that extra bounce and extra pace. We had enough time to get a lot of information. Lot of takeaways and learnings, I bowled a lot in this series. We had a lot of success as a team.”
India will next take on Sri Lanka in three T20Is and as many ODIs, which will be Gautam Gambhir’s first assignment as the team’s head coach.
