India recorded their second 10-wicket win in a men's T20I today (July 13), after chasing down 153 in 15.2 overs in the fourth match of the series against Zimbabwe to take a 3-1 victory with one game left to play.
India’s youngsters were at their dominating best as they defeated Zimbabwe to take an unassailable series lead. After opting to field first in Harare, the hosts made 63 in 8.3 overs for the opening stand before Abhishek Sharma dismissed Tadiwanashe Marumani for a 31-ball 32.
Zimbabwe ended up with 152-7 in their 20 overs, led by skipper Sikandar Raza’s 28-ball 46, which contained two fours and three sixes and came at a strike rate of 164.29.
Yashasvi Jaiswal steals the limelight
Left-hander Jaiswal, a part of India’s T20 World Cup-winning campaign, came out attacking in the run chase and raced away to 31 in just 13 balls. He got his fifty off 29 balls, even as Shubman Gill was at 13 off 10 at the other end. The India captain got into the groove. Jumping from 22 in 18 to 37 in 23 in the 10th over.
He carried on to score his second successive fifty, in 35 balls, while Jaiswal was unbeaten on 93 off 53, having smashed two sixes and 13 fours during his innings.
The duo combined to score 156 for the opening stand, which was only the fifth time an opening pair made more than 150 runs. It was also the second-highest partnership for India in a run-chase, behind the 165-run stand the same pair had amassed last year against the West Indies.
It marked the second time India won a T20I by 10 wickets. They had previously defeated Zimbabwe in 2016 without losing a wicket, chasing down the target of 100 runs with ease.
Previously, four other teams had chased down a score of more than 150 without losing a single wicket. Two of those four instances came against India, with England chasing down 169 without losing a wicket against India in the 2022 T20 World Cup semi-final. Pakistan had also won by 10 wickets when they chased 152 in the 2021 edition.
The fifth T20I between the two teams will be played on Sunday, July 14.
