In a thrilling decider, India prevailed hosts Zimbabwe by just three runs in order to clinch the three match T20I series 2-1. The game got too close for comfort for the Indians as pacer Barinder Sran began his last over by conceding a six and then a boundary off a chest high fulltoss. Sran soon made up for his as he held his nerve to guide India to a 3 run victory.
The day began gloomily for India as after being put in to bat, openers KL Rahul and Mandeep Singh departed without making much of an impact. Ambati Rayudu took his time but got out at the wrong moment. MS Dhoni had another forgettable outing with the bat as his 13 ball 9 didn’t help India’s cause one bit. Kedar Jadhav was India’s savior as due to his massive hits, India got to 138-6. Axar Patel too chipped in with a priceless cameo.
Post the game, skipper MS Dhoni said that tough situations like these would mature the boys. “What happens in this format is the games get close,” said Dhoni. “Zimbabwe batted, bowled and fielded well in this series, which is why it was a close series. As the format gets longer, it will be difficult for them to compete. They need more games to get better and better. I didn’t get a chance to bat but I felt it was the right way to play cricket – having opted to bat,” Dhoni mentioned.
“Fast bowling is something you need a good pool for. We have 10-12 bowlers now who can play limited overs cricket. Gradually they will graduate to the Test level. Games like these will help them mature, and the fact that we lost the first T20I helped us get more out of the series,” said a confident Dhoni.
Pacer Barinder Sran was named the Man of the series for his fantastic bowling performance. “I had the confidence because the runs were too much. Initial plan was something else but then I changed it after the first 2 balls didn’t go too well,” said Sran.