After a shocking defeat in the first T20I at Harare, the Indian roared back ferociously to maul Zimbabwe in the second fixture. The men in blue simply tormented the hosts as India wrapped up the formalities by 10 wickets to level the T20I series 1-1. From India’s point of view, the bowlers came to the party as debutant Barinder Sran demolished Zimbabwe’s top order.
Making his debut along with new ball partner Dhawan Kulkarni, Sran picked up 4 wickets in his first spell as his disciplined bowling was just too good for the hosts. Zimbabwe could only crawl their way to 99-9 in 20 overs and pacer Jasprit Bumrah picked up 3 wickets towards the end. The Indian openers found no difficulty in getting to the target as Mandeep Singh scored a fine unbeaten half century.
In the post-match presentation, skipper MS Dhoni lauded his bowlers for a perfect show. It was a big victory,” said Dhoni. “I think the bowlers started well and personally I was a little worried as we are playing the third straight game on the same pitch. I felt there might be something worrying about the pitch that’s why I wanted to bat first. I emphasized we needed to run hard, push the fielders and in a shorter format, it’s always important to sneak in those quick runs. Even in Test matches that’s the key. The fielders also backed up well as the bowlers did a great job in the initial few overs.”
Pacer Barinder Sran was named the Man of the Match, and he was delighted with his efforts. “I was very happy. There was no pressure, it took a while for me to debut in T20Is but I feel happy with the way I bowled. The ball was swinging a bit and I concentrated on bowling good lines, that’s what worked for us today,” said Sran.