New Delhi: Sanju Samson’s responsible half century formed the cornerstone of India’s 42-run win over Zimbabwe in the fourth and final T20I of the five-game series in Harare on Sunday.
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field, paving the way for India to post 167 for six at the Harare Sports Club. In reply, the home team were bowled out for 125 in 18.3 overs as India won for the fourth straight time to win the series 4-1.
Part of T20 World Cup-winning team, Samson played a matured 45-ball 58-run knock as he pulled Indian from 40/3 in five overs when Yashasvi Jaiswal (12), Skipper Shubman Gill (13) and Abhishek Sharma (14) all fell cheaply.
The dismissed trio attempted aggressive shots but were unable to pull them off as Jaiswal began from where he left during his unbeaten 93 in the fourth T20I.
The left hander began with a couple of sixes off the first two balls of the innings, but then got bowled by skipper Sikandar Raza.
Sharma got a life on 10 by Brian Bennett off Blessing Muzarabani but he was guilty of over aggressiveness as he charged down two balls later to edge it to Clive Madande behind the wicket.
Gill also couldn’t capitalise when given a reprieve on 11. He wasn’t nowehere near his usual fluency and hit left-arm seamer Richard Ngarava into the hands of Raza in the deep.
In a spot of bother at 40/3, India needed a partnership to steady their innings. Samson paired up with Riyan Parag (22) to add 65 runs for the fourth wicket.
Samson was scpetical in the beginning but then opened up at the later part of the innings to hit a boundary and four sixes.
After putting up a competitive total on the scoreboard, the Indian bowlers were on top of the Zimbabwe batters from the very beginning.
The hosts began to lose wickets from the first over itself with Mukesh Kumar (4/22) being the pick of the bowlers.
Dion Myers (34) was the highest scoring batter for Zimbabwe in what was a limp batting display.
Brief Scores:
India 167 for 6 in 20 overs (Sanju Samson 58, Riyan Parag 22, Shivam Dube 26; Richard Ngarava 1/29, Blessing Muzarabani 2/19).
Zimbabwe 125 for 18.3 overs (Tadiwanashe Marumani 27, Dion Myers 34, Faraz Khan 27; Mukesh Kumar 4/22, Shivam Dube 2/25).
India beat Zimbabwe by 42 runs in fifth and final T20I to win the five-match series 4-1. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
