Harare: Vice captain Sanju Samson smashed his second T20I fifty through a 45-ball 58, while fast-bowler Mukesh Kumar picked his career-best figures in the format through 4-22 as India beat Zimbabwe by 42 runs in the fifth and final game at the Harare Sports Club to win the series 4-1.
Samson was at his languid best, hitting a four and four sixes in his knock, while sharing a 65-run stand off 56 balls for the fourth wicket with Riyan Parag, to bail India out of trouble after losing their top three batters in power-play.
Shivam Dube’s quick cameo of 26, along with some lofty hits at the end from Rinku Singh took India to a competitive 167/6, as 30 runs came off the last two overs. In reply, Mukesh struck twice with the new ball to put Zimbabwe in early trouble.
Dion Myers and Tadiwanashe Marumani kept Zimbabwe in the hunt, but a collapse saw the hosts’ go from 85/3 to 94/7 and be eventually all out for 125 in 18.3 overs, as India got a strong series win after losing the opening match by 13 runs.
Mukesh gave India a brilliant start in their defence of 168 when Wesley Madhevere chopped on to his stumps in the opening over. The pacer came back in the third over to have Brian Bennett flashing hard outside the off-stump and was caught by third man. He could have got his third wicket if he hadn’t overstepped while castling Myers.
Myers and Marumani hit seven boundaries between themselves to lead Zimbabwe’s fight with a 44-run stand off 36 balls for the third wicket. But Washington Sundar broke the partnership by trapping a sweeping Marumani lbw with a slower delivery in the ninth over.
Myers hit Abhishek Sharma for a four and six to keep Zimbabwe on track, but Dube took him out in the 13th over with a short ball cramping the batter for room and was caught off a leading edge by backward point.
Sikandar Raza being run out in a mix-up with Johnathan Campbell by a direct hit from Dube, who took out the latter in the next over was a jolt Zimbabwe couldn’t recover from. From there, Abhishek and Tushar Deshpande got a wicket each, while Mukesh took the remaining two scalps to finish with a four-fer in another convincing win for India.
Earlier, Yashasvi Jaiswal gave India a blistering start by swatting Raza for consecutive sixes on the first two balls of the innings, including off a no-ball. But Raza struck back by getting the ball to come in late and go past Jaiswal’s attempted on-drive to send the leg-stump on a walk.
