India v Zimbabwe, 2015
Wisden's review of the first Twenty20 International, India v Zimbabwe, 2015
15-Apr-2016
First Twenty20 international At Harare, July 17, 2015. India won by 54 runs. ‡India 178-5 (20 overs) (A. M. Rahane 33, M. Vijay 34, R. V. Uthappa 39*; C. B. Mpofu 3-33); Zimbabwe 124-7 (20 overs) (A. R. Patel 3-17). MoM: A. R. Patel. T20I debuts: N. Madziva, T. Muzarabani (Zimbabwe); S. T. R. Binny, K. M. Jadhav, M. K. Pandey, A. R. Patel, S. Sharma (India).
India fielded five Twenty20 international debutants, but it did not mean a lack of experience. Their IPL know-how was evident as Vijay and Rahane set the tone with 64 in seven overs, and Robin Uthappa steered the rest of the innings. Only Chris Mpofu's accurate burst kept India in check late on. Masakadza and Chibhabha made a steady start against the seamers, but were quickly undone by the spin of Akshar Patel and Harbhajan Singh (2-29). They took care of the top five as Zimbabwe sank from 55-0 to 90-6, before limping through the last few overs with no purpose beyond survival.
India fielded five Twenty20 international debutants, but it did not mean a lack of experience. Their IPL know-how was evident as Vijay and Rahane set the tone with 64 in seven overs, and Robin Uthappa steered the rest of the innings. Only Chris Mpofu's accurate burst kept India in check late on. Masakadza and Chibhabha made a steady start against the seamers, but were quickly undone by the spin of Akshar Patel and Harbhajan Singh (2-29). They took care of the top five as Zimbabwe sank from 55-0 to 90-6, before limping through the last few overs with no purpose beyond survival.