It was India’s perfect performance in both the bowling and batting parts in the opening ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare, as they bowled out the home team for just 189 and chased down the target in just 30 overs without losing a wicket – Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill batted together at the top, keeping their third century-plus stand in the last four ODIs they played together.
The Indian think tank will be pleased with Deepak Chahar’s remarkable performance as he found swing and discipline in his very first game after returning from a back injury. Moreover, KL Rahul and other batters didn’t get the opportunity to bat as the openers did the job without losing any wickets.
The Indian bowling showed a sharp edge. Deepak Chahar, Prasidh Krishna, and Mohammad Siraj shared 7 wickets between them. Axar Patel took the rest of the three. Kuldeep Yadav was economical and bowled to the right areas. The plans were executed on the mark.
Deepak Chahar after his excellent performance said “My plan is always simple. When the ball is swinging, try to bowl fuller length and take as many wickets as possible. When the ball is not swinging, then there is a Plan B or Plan C.”
Their rivals, Zimbabwe, came high in the series by winning both the T20I and ODI series. Although they won those series, there were still some concerns during their ODI series against Bangladesh, and one of them was the lack of runs from the top order.
The top 4 batters went back to the pavilion on single digits. Innocent Kaia scored 4 runs, T Marumani scored 8, Madhevere scored 5, and Sean Williams was out at 1 run. Now, this is a real issue of concern for Zimbabwe before the T20 world cup 2022. While bowling, they bowled as many as 21 wide balls.
“The Indian bowlers bowled really well, put the pressure on us and we lost our way after the first 4-5 overs. It was good to see Richi (Ngarava) and Brad give us that partnership at the end,” said Regis Chakabva, Zimbabwe’s captain.
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