ZIM vs IND | Samson's mature half-century and Mukesh's heroics seal dominant 4-1 series win for India

After winning their first toss of the series, Zimbabwe sent India to bat first. Yashasvi Jaiswal pounced on Sikandar Raza's no-ball first-up to kick off the innings with two maximums but the Zimbabwean had a last laugh by flattening his leg-stump three deliveries later. Shubman Gill and Abhishek Sharma followed suit after meek knocks in the powerplay to leave the visitors reeling at 44/3 after six overs. The Rajasthan Royals duo of Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag took upon the responsibility thereon to stabilize the innings with a 65-run stand off 50 balls even as the latter struggled to maintain a healthy strike rate. His 24-ball slog for 22 eventually came to an end in the 15th over, bringing Shivam Dube with the crease. The hard-hitter combined with Samson to up the tempo with a flurry of boundaries, the latter exploding in a 12-ball cameo of 26 while Samson brought up a 39-ball half-century, their efforts taking India to a competitive 167/6.

In response, Mukesh Kumar got India off to a flying start by sounding Wessly Madhavere the death knell on just the third delivery before adding Brian Bennett to his tally in the next over. Tadiwanashe Marumani tried to counteract the early setbacks with a few boundaries at the other end but was trapped plumb in front by Washington Sundar in the ninth over with the score reading 59/3. Dube added to his batting heroics with Dion Myers scalp for a patient 34 in the 13th over when the required run-rate had already sky rocketed, and then a direct throw six balls later to run-out Raza effectively sealed India's triumph. Faraz Akram provided some late entertainment to the crowd with a gung-ho knock of 27 while striking at over 200 before two more scalps for Mukesh bowled out Zimbabwe for 125.

India have beaten Zimbabwe by 42 runs to claim the series by 4-1.#INDvZIM #IndvsZim

#ZIMvsIND#ZIMvsIND pic.twitter.com/lX7JRzYyIY

— Saurabh Yadav (@Saurabh64892171) July 14, 2024

What a win

Team India wins the series under the expert guidance of captain shubman gill 🫡💙 many more to come... #INDvZIM

— 77 🏏 (@CriCrazeX) July 14, 2024

Superb

India win by 42 runs . Series won 4-1.

Dominating victory 🏆🇮🇳

— Rohan R Shanbhag (@rony619619) July 14, 2024

Onto the real challenge

India vs Zimbabwe T20I series:

India won the series by 4-1(5) margin



India played a total of 7 , 5 match series (including this one )



This is India's 5th 5 match series win



Only 1 loss against West indies by(3/2)



And 1 draw against south africa (2-2)

— Sam Sam (@trdrsam300) July 14, 2024