India returned to winning form in T20 internationals with a convincing victory over Zimbabwe, powered by a rapid fifty from teenage opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and an impressive new ball spell from Mayank Yadav.
Zimbabwe were restricted to 125 for 7 after India’s pace attack controlled the early stages. Mayank made an immediate impact by removing Brian Bennett with the first delivery of the match. The ball moved away just enough to find the edge, with the dismissal confirmed after India used a review.
Prince Yadav then dismissed debutant Ben Curran, while Mayank added the wicket of Dion Myers, who mistimed a pull shot to mid on. Zimbabwe ended the powerplay on 26 for 3 and soon slipped to 32 for 4, leaving their middle order with a difficult recovery task.
Wessley Madhevere provided the main resistance. After surviving an lbw decision through a successful review, he settled into the innings and later increased the scoring rate. Ryan Burl contributed 26 before being dismissed, while Madhevere combined with Tadiwanashe Marumani in a valuable 58 run partnership.
Madhevere eventually made 39 from 34 deliveries, his highest T20I score in 16 innings. However, India’s bowlers remained disciplined throughout. Mayank and Prince conceded only 37 runs across their combined eight overs, while every Indian bowler finished with an economy rate of eight or lower.
Chasing 126, India were quickly placed in control by Sooryavanshi. The 15 year old handled Zimbabwe’s tall fast bowlers with confidence and attacked whenever they missed their length. Richard Ngarava was struck for two sixes and a four in one over, while Brad Evans and Blessing Muzarabani also came under heavy pressure.
Sooryavanshi raced to 48 from 17 balls during the powerplay before reaching his first international half century from only 18 deliveries. His innings ended immediately after the milestone when he chased a wide ball from Ngarava and was caught at deep third.
India were 68 for 2 at that stage and required only 58 more runs. Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer then ensured there was no late drama, adding 46 for the third wicket. Kishan maintained the momentum with two sixes, while Iyer guided the chase towards the finish.
India completed the target in the 14th over with 40 balls remaining. The result ended their T20I losing run and gave them an ideal start to the short series. Zimbabwe will now look to respond in the remaining matches scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
