Harare. Sanju Samson hit a half-century followed by a superb bowling performance by Mukesh Kumar as India defeated Zimbabwe by 42 runs in the fifth and final T20 International cricket match here on Sunday to clinch the series 4-1 with their fourth consecutive win.
Chasing India’s target of 168 runs, Zimbabwe’s team was bowled out for 125 runs in 18.3 overs in front of Mukesh’s career best bowling (4 wickets for 22 runs). Shivam Dubey (2 wickets for 25 runs) bowled economically and took two wickets while Washington Sundar (1 wicket for 7 runs), Abhishek Sharma (1 wicket for 20 runs) and Tushar Deshpande (1 wicket for 25 runs) got one wicket each.
For Zimbabwe, Dion Myers scored the highest 34 runs while openers Thadivineshe Murumani and Faraz Akram contributed 27-27 runs. Earlier, Samson scored 58 runs in 45 balls with four sixes and a four, besides adding 65 runs for the fourth wicket with Riyan Parag (22), which helped India score 167 runs for six wickets. Dubey finally played a quick innings of 26 runs in 12 balls with two sixes and two fours.
Blessing Muzarabani was the most successful bowler for Zimbabwe who took two wickets for 19 runs. Zimbabwe had a bad start while chasing the target. Wesley Madhevere (00) played the third ball of Mukesh’s innings onto the wickets. Brian Bennett (10) welcomed Deshpande with two consecutive fours but gave an easy catch to Dubey at deep backward point in Mukesh’s next over.
Opener Marumani hit two consecutive fours on Mukesh. This left-handed batsman got bowled on the next ball but it was a no ball. Marumani hit two fours on Ravi Bishnoi while in the same over Myers also hit the ball to the boundary. Zimbabwe scored 47 runs for two wickets in the power play. Sundar gave the third blow to Zimbabwe by trapping Marumani LBW.
Myers hit a six and a four off left-arm spinner Abhishek but gave an easy catch to Abhishek at short third man off Dubey’s ball. Captain Sikandar Raza (08) was run out in the 14th over on Dubey’s accurate shot. Dubey got Jonathan Campbell (04) caught by Deshpande at the square leg boundary. Zimbabwe needed 74 runs to win in the last five overs. Abhishek gave Zimbabwe the seventh blow by getting Clive Mendende (01) caught by wicketkeeper Samson. The host team’s century of runs was completed in the 17th over.
After hitting a six on Dubey, Faraz Akram hit a six and a four on consecutive balls of Deshpande. Meanwhile, Deshpande caught Brendan Mavuta (04) on his own ball. Mukesh got Akram caught by Samson and then bowled Richard Ngarava (00) to ensure India’s victory. Earlier, Ngarava (one wicket for 29 runs), Raza (one wicket for 37 runs) and Mavuta (one wicket for 39 runs) also took one wicket each for Zimbabwe.
Raza invited India to bat. Raza bowled a no-ball on the very first ball on which Yashasvi Jaiswal (12) hit a six and then sent the free hit into the crowd. However, he was bowled on the fourth ball of the innings. Abhishek (14) hit a six on Akram while captain Shubman Gill (13) also hit two consecutive fours on this fast bowler. Brian Bennett dropped Abhishek’s catch at point on Mujarbani’s ball but this left-handed batsman was caught by wicketkeeper Clive Menden two balls later.
Campbell dropped a difficult catch of Gill at third man on Nagarwa’s ball but the Indian captain gave the catch to Raza in this over. India scored 44 runs for three wickets in the power play. Samson and Parag then took the innings forward. Samson hit a six on Raza. Parag hit the first six of his international career of 107 meters on Mavuta. Samson also hit two consecutive sixes on Mavuta. India’s century of runs was completed in the 13th over.
Parag then gave an easy catch to Ngarava at long off while trying to play a big shot on Mavuta’s ball. Dube hit a six on Mavuta as soon as he came. After hitting a six on Ngarava, Samson completed his half-century in 39 balls with two runs on Raza’s ball.
However, after completing his half-century, Samson got caught by Marumani off Mujarbani’s ball. Dubey hit two fours and a six off consecutive balls of Nagarwa in the 19th over. He was run out in the last over.