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Harare: Teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed a brilliant 81 while pacer Mayank Yadav claimed three wickets as India defeated Zimbabwe by 35 runs in the third T20I at Harare to complete a commanding 3-0 series sweep.
Having arrived on the back of disappointing series defeats in Ireland and England, India produced a clinical all-round performance to assert their dominance. Sooryavanshi set the tone early with a sparkling 81 off 49 balls to lift India to a formidable 192/5 on a slow pitch.
In defence of the total, Mayank was clinical in using short of good length and short balls to ensure Zimbabwe were never in the hunt. Despite a sloppy display in the field that saw five chances being dropped, India restricted Zimbabwe to 157/7 to wrap up a comfortable series win.
Electing to bat first, India rode on Sooryavanshi’s calculated brilliance, as the young opener abandoned his typical all-out aggression for a more mature, paced knock and showed willingness to rotate strike via 19 singles and three twos. Blending power with precision, he hammered the Zimbabwean attack – whenever they erred – across the park for hitting eight fours and four sixes at a strike-rate of 165.31.
Though India fell just eight runs short of the 200-mark, Sooryavanshi also shared stands of 75 and 50 with Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer before Rinku Singh provided the finishing touches with 14-ball 25. For Zimbabwe, though Brad Evans was the standout bowler with 2-41, the bowlers were majorly expensive and gave away 17 extras – 15 of which were wides.
Zimbabwe’s decision to open the bowling with skipper Sikandar Raza backfired instantly as Sooryavanshi carved the first ball past short third man for four before bringing out the lofted drive for another boundary in a 17-run opening over. But Blessing Muzarabani quickly came in and reasserted his dominance over Abhishek Sharma.
For the third time in the series, the towering pacer had the opener’s number – inducing a thick edge as Abhishek attempted to smash him over cover, and an easy catch was taken by the keeper for just two. Unfazed by the early setback, Sooryavanshi muscled a hook into the parking lot off Muzarabani for six before edging him past third man for another boundary.
Sooryavanshi displayed equal dexterity against fuller balls – repeatedly opening the face of his bat to squeeze out yorkers from Newman Nyamhuri and Brad Evans through the off-side for boundaries. On the other end, Kishan settled into his groove by slicing and muscling Brad Evans for consecutive boundaries before muscling Wellington Masakadza over mid-wicket for another four.
Sooryavanshi also launched Masakadza over mid-wicket for another towering six before bringing up his second T20I fifty in 31 balls when he calmly cut Wessly Madhevere to deep point for a single. Though Kishan was castled by Raza for 29, Sooryavanshi continued to show his range – smoking Madhevere down the ground before reverse-sweeping him for another boundary.
With skipper Iyer hammering Madhevere for consecutive boundaries, Sooryavanshi continued to dish out towering sixes, including a 102-m hit down the ground, before his attempt to go downtown again ended in Brad Evans pulling off a sensational low diving catch at long-off to finally dismiss the teenager for 81.
Though Shreyas Iyer holed out to deep mid-wicket off Brad Evans for 27, Tilak Varma and Rinku Singh hit four boundaries collectively before the latter holed out to deep cover off Evans on the last ball of the innings. By then, India crossed 190-mark, thanks to Sooryavanshi’s measured blitzkrieg and 40 runs coming from overs 17-20.
Chasing 193, Zimbabwe’s reply got off to a disastrous start as Mayank struck with the very first ball of the innings – just like he did in the first T20I. The express pacer produced a 147kph thunderbolt that nipped away and drew an edge from Brian Bennett, which Vaibhav Sooryavanshi caught sharply at first slip.
Yash Thakur’s double-strike in the fourth over effectively derailed Zimbabwe’s chase. Thakur first outsmarted Dion Myers (19) with a clever 125kph bouncer, which the batter tamely chipped to Shreyas Iyer. On the very next ball, Thakur produced a moment of magic – getting a 143kph delivery to take skipper Sikandar Raza’s leading edge before diving dynamically in his follow-through to pluck a sensational one-handed stunning catch.
Though Ryan Burl denied Thakur a hat-trick with a crisp drive to the boundary, India seized complete control of the contest by taking three scalps in power-play. Ryan Burl and Ben Curran tried resurrecting the innings with a 31-run stand, before the latter reverse-swept to short third man off Ravi Bishnoi.
Burl and Wessly Madhevere tried reducing Zimbabwe’s pressure after four boundary-less overs with some lofty hits – the former carted Sharma for a four and six while the latter gave the same treatment to Thakur.
The 60-run partnership ended when Mayank had Madhevere pulling to mid-wicket (and later had Brad Evans caught out at cover) and once Ashok Sharma sent Tadiwanashe Marumani’s off-stump for a walk to get his first international wicket, the writing was on the wall for Zimbabwe, with the result entirely in India’s favour, despite Burl hitting an unbeaten fifty off 42 balls.
Brief Scores:
India 192/5 in 20 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 81, Ishan Kishan 29; Brad Evans 2-41, Blessing Muzarabani 1-33) beat Zimbabwe 157/7 in 20 overs (Ryan Burl 54 not out, Wessly Madhevere 28; Mayank Yadav 3-29, Yash Thakur 2-45) by 35 runs
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–IANS
