Samson reached his fifty in 39 balls, his second in T20Is, but Parag departed as India looked for some late acceleration | Source: X @BCCI
Sanju Samson’s well-balanced fifty and Mukesh Kumar’s disciplined execution helped India conclude their tour of Zimbabwe with a commanding 42-run win in the fifth and final T20I on Sunday.
With this victory, India won the series 4-1.
Samson’s (58, 45b) was crucial to India’s healthy 167 for six, along with Shivam Dube’s eye-catching 26 (12b).
Then the Indian bowlers, led by Mukesh (4/22), Shivam Dube (2/25) and Washington Sundar (1/7), did their job and defeated Zimbabwe by 125 runs in 18.3 overs.
After the early dismissal of Wessly Madhevere, who had the third ball of the first over bowled onto his stumps by pacer Mukesh, and Brian Bennett, the pair of Tadiwanashe Marumani (27) and Dion Myers (34) added 44 runs for the third wicket to keep the hosts in the race.
Marumani’s switch-hit four off leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who scored a couple of runs in this match, was simply stunning in its execution.
But such shots came rarely from the Zimbabwean batters.
Marumani attempted a sweep shot against Washington but missed the line as the ball landed on his upper body and was ruled a leg-before.
Dube followed a shuffling Myers with a quicker ball to his body, and the Zimbabwean batsman merely tapped the ball to Abhishek Sharma at short third man.
The final nail in their hopes was the run out of captain Sikandar Raza (8), which produced a cartwheel of four wickets for nine runs.
Mukesh, who posted his best-ever T20 score, brought Zimbabwe’s innings to a fitting end by getting past Richard Ngarava.
Earlier, Samson (1×4, 4×6) and Riyan Parag (22, 24b) put on 65 runs for the fourth wicket as India recovered from a lacklustre Power Play in which they were 44 for three.
Yashasvi Jaiswal (12), who made an unbeaten 93 in the fourth T20I, started the match with two sixes in the first two balls of the innings bowled by Raza.
But in the fourth ball of the same over, Jaiswal played the wrong line to a ball on middle and leg stump, resulting in him being bowled.
Abhishek, who was caught out by Blessing Muzarabani at 10 yards by Bennett, did not last long and the quick hit to Clive Madande behind the wicket two balls later.
Captain Shubman Gill, who was reprieved on 11, was never quite in form and hit left-handed bowler Ngarava straight into the hands of Raza in the deep.
At 44 for three, India needed a partnership to steady their innings. Samson and Parag did just that.
Their covenant was more about caution than theatricality, choosing the right method of punishment.
It was also the right approach, as the pitch was not exactly great as in the previous two games, and thus looked a bit like a change.
However, Samson showed his aggressive side when the opportunity arose.
He beat leg-spinner Brandon Mavuto with two sixes in a row and the second shot was a minor miracle.
Mavuto fired the ball into Samson’s leg-stump but the right-handed bowler gave himself enough space to hit the ball over extra cover for maximum score.
Samson scored his fifty in 39 balls, his second in T20Is, but Parag departed as India looked for some acceleration in the closing stages.
The right-handed pitcher was beaten by Mavuto as he tried to jump the fence, and Samson also couldn’t hold out until the end of the innings.
He took on Muzarabani, the home team’s most impressive bowler, but ended up catching the tumbling Marumani.
However, tourists still found some spectacle thanks to Dube’s fireworks.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been edited by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: Jul 14, 2024 | 8:43 PM IST