Samson, Kumar help India to 42-run win over Zimbabwe in T20 Internationals

A fine four-wicket spell by Mukesh Kumar and a half-century by Sanju Samson were the highlights as India defeated Zimbabwe by 42 runs in the fifth and final T20I at Harare to secure the series on Sunday.

Following his side’s series win against Zimbabwe, Indian all-rounder Abhishek Sharma thanked skipper Shubman Gill and the team management for trusting his bowling and added that he is working hard on his skills with the ball.

Speaking after the game in the post-match presentation, “The last few games were pretty good for bowling, and as Riyan said after the first game, we all woke up. The positive was the next match was the next day, so we did not think have time to think too much.”

On making his debut with Riyan Parag, his 2018 U19 World Cup teammate, “We were talking about this in the IPL, if we get our caps, it will be a dream come true. We never thought we will debut together. We spoke about it long ago, and it happened.”

He thanked Shubman and the team management for trusting his bowling, saying, “Special mention goes to Shubman and coaches for trusting in my bowling after the first two games, I did not bowl well either, but I am working hard on my bowling, and it is good to have the backing from the management.”

Sharma had a decent debut in this series. While he did not click with the bat except a 47-ball century in the second T20I, his intent and hitting was great. He scored 124 runs in four innings at a strike rate of over 174. With the ball, he took two wickets and got to bowl 13 overs in this series.

Coming to the match, Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field first. They had India at 40/3 at one point until a 65-run partnership between Sanju Samson (58 in 45 balls, with a four and four sixes) and Riyan Parag (22 in 24 balls, with a six) and a fine cameo from Shivam Dube (26 in 12 balls, with two fours and two sixes) took India to 167/6 in their 20 overs.

Blessing Muzarbani (2/19) was the pick of the bowlers for Zimbabwe. Richard Ngarva, Sikandar Raza, and Brandon Mavuta also got a wicket each.

In the run-chase, Zimbabwe had a fine start and was in the game for a good amount of time, until Shivam Dube (2/25) delivered a game-changing spell and a quick run-out of Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza. Dion Myers (34 in 32 balls, with four boundaries and a six), Tadiwanashe Marumani (27 in 24 balls, with five fours) and Faraz Akram (27 in 13 balls, with two fours and two sixes) put up a fight for Zimbabwe, but Mukesh Kumar (4/22) cleaned up the tail. Zimbabwe was bundled out for 125 runs, losing by 42 runs with nine balls left.

Shivam secured the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his all-round performance. Washington Sundar, who scored 28 runs in two innings with best score of 27 and took eight wickets in the series, was given the ‘Player of the Series’ awards.