India take series lead over Zimbabwe with all-round show
Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad produced highquality knocks before the bowlers did their part as India outplayed Zimbabwe by 23 runs in the third T20I on Wednesday.
Gill (66 off 49), Yashasvi Jaiswal (36 off 27) and Gaikwad (49 off 28) propelled India to 182/4 after the visitors opted to bat.
Zimbabwe were never really in the run chase despite an entertaining effort from No 4 Dion Myers (65* off 49), ending at 159/6 in their 20 overs.
Washington Sundar, who is likely to play a bigger role in India’s T20 set-up after the retirement of Ravindra Jadeja, struck thrice while Avesh Khan took a couple of wickets.
The fourth T20 of the fivematch series will be staged here on Saturday. After a loss in the series opener, India have restored normal service with back-to-back victories.
After Avesh Khan bounced out opener Wessly Madhevere in the second over, the wickets kept falling for the home team. However, Zimbabwe did well to stead the ship after losing their first five wickets for 39 runs.
The 77-run stand off 57 balls between Myers and Clive Madande (37 off 26) put much needed life into the game.
Earlier, Gill-led India made some interesting selection calls. They duly inducted World Cup winners Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (12* off 7) and Shivam Dube into the playing 11, leaving out the likes of Riyan Parag in the middle order. Sanju came to bat at No 5 with four specialist openers Jaiswal, Gill, Abhishek Sharma (10 off 9) and Gaikwad occupying the top four positions.
Jaiswal, who did not get a game in the T20 World Cup, was happy to be back in the middle and went for his shots from the get go. The southpaw collected couple of fours and a six over deep-midwicket in the opening over bowled by offspinner Brian Bennett to set the tone. Gill began with a gorgeous on drive off left-arm pacer Richard Ngarava before pulling him for a six over fine-leg.
Brief scores: India 182/4 (Gill 66, Gaikwad 49, Jaiswal 36). Zimbabwe 159/6 (Myers 65*, Madande 37, Washington 3/15, Avesh 2/39). India won by 23 runs.