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

SportsCafe Desk

BySportsCafe Desk, SportsCafe Editor

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India set aside all complacency in the dead-rubber against Zimbabwe at Harare Sports Club on Sunday to earmark their series victory with a comfortable 42-run triumph in the fifth T20I. Sanju Samson's 58 and a Shivam Dube cameo helped India score 167/6 before regular wickets kept Zimbabwe short.

Brief Score: IND 167/6 (20) [Samson 58(45), Dube 26(12); Muzarabani 2/19(4)] defeat ZIM 125 (18.3) [Myers 34(32), Akram 27(13); Mukesh 4/22(3.2)] by 42 runs

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.

Good win

True

What a win

Many more to come

What a win

Superb

Dominating

Good series

Onto the real challenge

Brilliant

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