India commenced their tour of Zimbabwe perfectly as the men in blue cruised home in a short run chase. On a cold morning, skipper MS Dhoni won a really crucial toss and put the hosts in to bat. That turned out to be a vital decision as the ball initially swung a bit and the Indian bowlers did well to exploit that. The new ball bowlers, mainly Barinder Sran and Dhawal Kulkarni made full use of the conditions and struck early.
The good work was carried on by Jasprit Bumrah, who got a 4 wicket haul, playing just his second ODI. The spinners were quite miserly and shared two wickets between them. From the batting front, KL Rahul stole the show with a delightful century on debut. He became the first Indian to score a century on ODI debut.
Post his side’s comprehensive win, skipper MS Dhoni was a pleased win and praised his unit. “It was a very good performance,” said MS Dhoni. “It was important to start well and the fast bowlers gave us a good start. The spinners also came in and did their job. It is difficult to judge what is a good score. It was not easy to rotate the strike. We can’t say that 240 would have been a good total as our approach would have been different. It is important to win the first game of the three-match series,” added Dhoni.
KL Rahul was named the Man of the Match for his century and he seemed delighted with his effort. “The wicket was tough. I couldn’t be complacent. I just wanted to play the first 10 overs and am really satisfied with my batting. I just got told by my manager. It feels good to get a hundred on debut. There was no thinking, I had to hit the six. Still five more games and hoping to carry on the good form. We have come here for the first time; my first time with the ODI team and we are loving it so far.”