Comeback pacer Deepak Chahar and opening batter Shubman Gill were the star performers as India toppled off Zimbabwe with ease in the first ODI in Harare on August 18.
Chahar delivered a fascinating new-ball burst to build significant inroads into the Zimbabwean batting unit, while Gill dominated with bat in hand in a comfortable run-chase for the tourists.
Making a return to the side after a six-month injury lay-off, Chahar understandably found it an issue to immediately refind his rhythm. But he bowled at optimum pace and extracted prodigious new-ball swing as the overs rolled on, eventually getting it to rip past the inside and the outside edge of the bat.
Chahar ran through the Zimbabwean top-order, dismissing their openers Innocent Kaia (4) and Tadiwanashe Marumani (8) and No.3 Wesley Madhevere (5). His terrific spell, backed up earnestly by Mohammed Siraj (1/36), helped reduce Zimbabwe to 31/4 at one stage.
The early exploits of Chahar and Siraj gave first-change seamer Prasidh Krishna a chance to attack the batters, and he used the short ball tactics to very good effect through his spell of 3 for 50.
Finding it extremely difficult to negotiate the movement and the bounce on offer at the Harare Sports Club, the Chevrons found themselves 110/8 soon, with only skipper Regis Chakabva (35) showing some resolve and fight.
It looked like Zimbabwe would have a very early end to their batting effort. But lower-order men Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava had other ideas as they stitched a valiant stand of 70 runs for the ninth wicket. Evans and Ngarava took the aggressive route to disturb the momentum of the play. While Evans hit an unbeaten 33 off 29 balls, Ngarava smashed 34 off 42 balls.
The stand, however, only delayed the inevitable as Zimbabwe finished 189 all out in the afternoon, where left-arm spinner Axar Patel (3/34) also made life extremely difficult for the home team batters. His spin partner Kuldeep Yadav (0/36) bowled a controlled but largely unthreatening spell on his ODI return.
The second half of the game was that of two contrasting innings with bat in hand. While Gill and his veteran opening partner Shikhar Dhawan both remained unbeaten through the chase, there was a stark difference in the way they batted. Gill dominated the bowling for most parts, and Dhawan struggled for the flow that he is known for.
The left-hander, for whom playing opportunities have been sporadic as a one-format specialist, had another outing where he faced the test of his situation in the set-up and survived to score rather than flourishing at the crease. He batted at a strike-rate shy of 72, making an unbeaten 81 off 113 deliveries, which was a sluggish effort given the quality of the opposition attack.
Gill couldn’t have played an innings of greater contrast to his partner, batting in incredible flow to exercise his influence and dominance on a hapless Zimbabwean attack. Continuing from where he left in the West Indies recently, the Indian opener smashed his way to an unbeaten 82 off 72 balls, including 10 fours and 1 six.
After top-scoring for India in the Caribbean, he strengthened his bid to own the backup opener’s slot in the first XI with a knock that he paced at a strike-rate of 113.89 and helped the team reach home with nearly 20 overs left in the proceedings.
Brief scores
Zimbabwe 189/10 in 40.3 overs (Chakabva 35; Patel 3/24, Chahar 3/27) lost to India 192/0 in 30.5 overs (Gill 82*, Dhawan 81*; Nyauchi 0/17) by 10 wickets
