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On Tuesday, July 7, India secured a massive win by 100 runs against Zimbabwe in the second T20I of the five-match series at the Harare Sports Club in Harare. Abhishek Sharma was the star of the show for India, who scored his maiden hundred in international cricket, to help the team level the series at 1-1.
For the unversed, after winning the toss, Shubman Gill, the captain of India, decided to bat first on a used pitch from the first match. Although Shubman Gill went back into the pavilion early after scoring 2 off 4, finding Brian Bennett at mid-on while trying to loft Blessing Muzarabani in the second over.
From that point onwards, Abhishek Sharma took the attack to the opposition, reaching his maiden hundred in just 46 balls after hitting Wellington Masakadza for three sixes of consecutive deliveries. He stitched a 137-run stand for the second wicket alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad, who stayed unbeaten till the end, scoring 77 off 47.
The right-handed batter had an unbeaten stand of 87 runs for the third wicket with Rinku Singh, who smashed 48 off just 22.
In the pursuit of the 235-run target, Mukesh Kumar struck twice for India in the powerplay, castling Innocent Kaia and a dangerous Brian Bennett, who scored 26 off 9. Avesh Khan picked up the key wickets of Dion Myers and the captain Sikandar Raza in the same over, to put Zimbabwe firmly on the backfoot.
Ravi Bishnoi came into the attack after the powerplay stage, registering figures of 1/11 in his four-over spell. Luke Jongwe tried to reduce the margin of defeat for Zimbabwe, scoring 33 off 26, but his dismissal signalled the end of the innings for just 134 runs in the penultimate over.
