Jaiswal and Gill wrap up series in style for India
The bowlers shared the wickets around and kept Zimbabwe to 152 for 7, before the opening pair made light work of the target
The bowlers shared the wickets around and kept Zimbabwe to 152 for 7, before the opening pair made light work of the target
Scorer: @Thilak_Rama | Commentator: Ashish Pant
Righto, that's the game done and with that the series has gone India's way too. We still have one more game to go less than 24 hours away with these two teams locking horns for one final time. Will the series finish 3-2 or 4-1? Join us tomorrow nice and early to find out. Till then, this is me Ashish Pant signing off on behalf of Shashank and Thilak. Ciao!
Shubman Gill Chasing was one thing we talked about. We could not do it in the first game, so good to get it done. The job is not done though. This is a great team, great bunch of players. Hopefully we will be able to take the team forward. [Changes tomorrow] Haven't had the discussion with the coach. If there are any changes, we will let you know at the toss tomorrow.
Yashasvi Jaiswal is the player of the match: I really enjoyed today. The wicket was really good. I was trying to play my shots and I enjoyed my game. When the ball was new it was coming onto the bat. When the ball got old, it was slow. I understood and changed my game. We really enjoyed together. Initially, I wanted to go after my shots. After that, I wanted to rotate and wanted to stay till the end.
Sikandar Raza: I think because the wicket was a touch on the slower side, we thought 160 was a par score, but 180 wouldn't have been enough. Today is the day you hold your heads high and say they batted better. I am very sure we will be a very competitive side in a short time. Even though the last five overs went for 54-55 we could have got more runs. There was a bit of kick, bounce and we had to reign ourselves in. They batted really well and batted us out of the game. The wicket was slightly on the slower side and it was spongy. The heavy roller did the trick for them. It became a beautiful wicket. We will want to finish the series 3-2 tomorrow.
Time for the presentation ceremony
Khaleel Ahmed: I am very happy with my performance. The kind of rhythm I have got, and the execution has been great. This series is everything for me. When I was not part of the dressing room, I was missing it a lot. Very happy to be a part of it. We have all played in the IPL, we are all together in this. I have a lot of responsibility when I start the first over. [On his slower balls] I was part of the World Cup reserves and there I worked a lot on my cutters and yorkers.
3.54pm India take the series 3-1 and have really powered through for a ten-wicket win with 28 balls to spare. Nothing went Zimbabwe's way right from the first over of the chase. Jaiswal started like a train collecting three fours in Richard Ngarava's first over and never stopped. India had raced to 53 for 0 after four overs and even though Zimbabwe managed to bowl a few good overs, Jaiswal and Gill never really stopped. Jaiswal reached his half-century off just 29 balls while Gill a bit sedate early on got to the mark in 35 balls. Eventually the duo remained unbeaten as India raced to 156 in just 15.2 overs.
Surely the last over of the match. India need just two for a win. Here's Muzarabani.
The bowlers shared the wickets around and kept Zimbabwe to 152 for 7, before the opening pair made light work of the target
Indian openers adopting safety-first, risk-averse approach seems to be a thing of the past, if the Jaiswal show is anything to go by
Shubman Gill's men also have the chance to seal the series on Saturday
The team management sent mixed signals by picking four openers and leaving out Riyan Parag for the third T20I against Zimbabwe