India defeated Zimbabwe by 9 wickets in the first One-day International at Harare Sports Club just a few moments ago. It was a dominating display by the Indian bowlers who bowled brilliantly by bowling Zimbabwe for 168 and the Indian batsmen chased down the target with ease as KL Rahul scored a century in his debut match.
- Brilliant bowling in power plays overs
The Indian team won the toss and elected to field on a good bowling pitch. Dhawal Kulkarni and Brainder Sran made use of the conditions by swinging the ball. Brainder Sran picked the wicket of Peter Moor. The Zimbabwe batsmen struggled against the Indian bowlers. Dhawal Kulkarni also picked the wicket of Hamilton Masakadza. At the end of 10, over’s Zimbabwe 32 for 2. It was an excellent display by Indian bowlers who did not allow the batsmen to score runs freely.
- Bumrah delivering the goods
Jasprit Bumrah bowled an excellent spell taking 4 for 28 in 9.5 overs. He was brought at the bowling crease in the 11th over. He got a good bounce and did not allow Zimbabwe batsmen to score runs. He picked the wicket Chibhabha with the good inswing bowl. He troubled all the batsmen. His bowling did not allow the Zimbabwe batsmen to score runs easily. Despite conceding extras, he did not give too many runs. In the last over he picked two wickets of Chigbumra and Chatara to end the innings.
- No partnership for Zimbabwe batsmen
The Zimbabwe batsmen failed to struggle to put on a sustainable partnership for the team. They lost wickets at regular intervals. The best partnership for Zimbabwe was for the sixth wicket as Chigbumra and Sikander Raza as they put on 38 runs. The Zimbabwe batsmen got starts but were not able to convert starts into big scores. Chigumbra was the top scorer with 41, followed Sikander Raza and Ervine scoring 20’s.
- Brilliant partnership between KL Rahul and Rayadu
Chasing a target of 169, the Indian team got off to a poor start losing the wicket of Karun Nair in the 5th over. KL Rahul and Rayadu struggled to score runs as it was not a good batting pitch. Rayadu and KL Rahul took rotated the strike , also smashed the bad balls away for boundaries. At the end of 15, over’s India were 40 for 1. KL Rahul and Rayadu remained not out by putting 162 for the second wicket which laid the foundation for 9 wicket victory.
- Excellent knock by KL Rahul on his debut
KL Rahul played a match winning knock for the team by scoring a century in his debut match. He took the time to settle on a pitch which was doing quite a lot. He played a lot of misses but remained calm. He completed his half-century off 57 balls. After that, he continued to play wonderful strokes. With him, Rayadu gave him good support. KL Rahul hit the winning shot by hitting a six. He was awarded the man of the match.