AN unbeaten 192-run opening stand between Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill helped India to a 10-wicket victory as they went 1-0 up in the ODI series against Zimbabwe.
Putting Zimbabwe in to bat first, the Indian pacers were aiming to exploit any movement the pitch had to offer in the morning. Tadiwanashe Marumani and Innocent Kaia had a circumspect start, with both Deepak Chahar and Mohammad Siraj extracting some extravagant movement.

After surviving some close calls, India finally had a breakthrough, with Chahar dismissing Kaia courtesy of a short delivery. This opened up the floodgates.
Marumani was Chahar’s next victim and Sean Williams did not last long, with Siraj sending him packing for 1. Chahar got his third, with some late swing trapping Wesley Madhevere’s plumb in front of the stumps. Reduced to 31-4, Zimbabwe were now in a world of trouble.

The wickets continued to tumble for Zimbabwe as Axar Patel and Prasidh Krishna joined in the act. Both scalped two wickets apiece, reducing Zimbabwe to 110-8, with the lower middle-order failing to contribute much.

But Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava embarked on some late rearguard action, helping the hosts save their blushes. The pair saw their partnership last 65 deliveries, aggregating 70 runs, which took Zimbabwe close to a total of 200.

Ngarava scored 34 off 42 deliveries, smashing 3 fours and one six, before he was bowled by Krishna. Evans remained unbeaten on 33, also hitting 3 boundaries and one six.
Zimbabwe’s innings finally ended when Axar dismissed Victor Nyauchi for 8, with the hosts putting up a total of 189 on the board.

(ICC Media)