India bounced back from their chastening defeat to Zimbabwe over the weekend to thump the hosts by 10 wickets in the second Twenty20 international at the Harare Sports Club on Monday and level the three-match series at 1-1.
Zimbabwe’s unexpected two-run victory in Saturday’s opener had suggested they might have turned a corner after a hopeless performance in the one-day international series, in which they were whitewashed 3-0, but on Monday they reverted to type with another feeble batting performance, scoring 99-9 as India seamers Barinder Sran and Jasprit Bumrah shared seven wickets.
In reply, India’s openers K.L. Rahul and Mandeep Singh took advantage of a couple of dropped catches to knock off the target in just 13.1 overs.
Photo: AFP
“Obviously, [Saturday’s] defeat was hurting, but we discussed a few points of what we needed to do and I think we implemented them really well today,” Singh said.
Zimbabwe’s batsmen had led the way in the victory, but on Monday they never got going as Sran picked up four wickets in seven deliveries to reduce the hosts to 28-4.
Bumrah did the damage at the back end of the innings, as he dismissed top scorer Peter Moor for 31 and dangerman Elton Chigumbura for 8 to record figures of 3-11.
Sran finished with 4-10 from his four overs — the second-best figures by a bowler on Twenty20 international debut.
“The shot selection is something that myself and Lance Klusener are forever trying to correct,” said Zimbabwe interim coach Makhaya Ntini, who confirmed he was interested in taking the job on a full-time basis.
“We need to give them the understanding that you don’t win a game or score a hundred from one shot. If someone gets out before you, you need to be the one who takes charge of the game and correct the mistake that the other one has made,” he said.
Faced with a meager target, India’s openers had time to play themselves in, but it did not take long for the boundaries to start flowing.
Singh was dropped twice in his innings and he went on to finish unbeaten on 52, while Rahul was 47 not out.
“The wicket wasn’t easy for shot-making because the ball was keeping low a little,” Singh said. “At the start I was trying to hit hard, because I generally play aggressively, but I watched Rahul and he asked me to calm down a little and try to time the ball. Slowly I controlled the nerves and then I was fine.”
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