A superb spell of bowling on debut from young left-arm spinner Axar Patel helped India cruise to a 54-run victory over Zimbabwe in the first Twenty20 international at the Harare Sports Club on Friday.
The 21-year-old took 3-17 from his four overs, including the key wicket of home skipper Elton Chigumbura.
India won the toss and elected to bat, posting 178-5 from their 20 overs.
Photo: AFP
The top three of Ajinkya Rahane (33), Murali Vijay (34) and top-scorer Robin Uthappa (39 not out) ensured a fast start at a run-a-ball, though the tourists were pegged back by Zimbabwe seamer Chris Mpofu, who finished with figures of 3-33.
Zimbabwe lost their first wicket in the eighth over of their reply, but were always behind the run-rate as they battled to get the ball to the boundary on the slow wicket.
Opener Hamilton Masakadza top-scored with 28 from 24 deliveries before he became the first wicket for Patel.
When the left-armer got rid of Chigumbura later in the same over, the Zimbabwe innings faltered further and they ended up finishing on 124-7 from their 20 overs, well short of their target.
Harbhajan Singh also excelled with the ball, taking 2-29 from his four overs.
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