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On Sunday, July 14, India defeated Zimbabwe by 42 runs in the fifth and final T20I, to secure a 4-1 series win at the Harare Sports Club in Harare. The star performers for India were Sanju Samson, who scored a fighting fifty after early wickets fell in the batting innings, while Mukesh Kumar picked up four Zimbabwean wickets.
For the unversed, Sikandar Raza, the Zimbabwean captain, won the toss for the first time in the five-match T20I series before deciding to field first. His bowlers responded to the call in style in the powerplay stage, sending the top three batters of India, namely Yashasvi Jaiswal, the Indian captain Shubman Gill, and Abhishek Sharma, back to the pavilion.
It led to a vital 65-run stand for the fourth wicket between Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag, to bring India back into the contest. After Parag was dismissed for 22 off 24, Samson completed his fifty before finishing up his innings on 58 off 45 with one four and four maximums. Shivam Dube and Rinku Singh provided the finishing touches to the Indian batting innings, propelling them to 167/5 in their allotted overs. Blessing Muzarabani was the pick of the bowlers from Zimbabwe with figures of 2/19 in his four-over spell.
In the pursuit of the 168-run target, Zimbabwe had a tough start when Mukesh Kumar dismissed Wessly Madhevere and Brian Bennett in quick succession. Following this, Tadiwanashe Marumani (27 off 24) and Dion Myers (34 off 32) batted quite well, to put Zimbabwe firmly in the contest.
But then, the Indian bowlers and fielders got into the act, to reduce Zimbabwe from 85/3 to 94/7, to gain full control of the proceedings. Faraz Akram struck a few lusty blows in the back end, but he only managed to reduce the margin of defeat for Zimbabwe with Mukesh Kumar picking up four wickets in his spell.
