India crush Zimbabwe by 90 runs as Shreyas Iyer clinches first series win as captain
India sealed the three-match T20I series against Zimbabwe with a 90-run win in the second match on Saturday, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead.Half-centuries from Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma, followed by a disciplined bowling effort, helped India outplay the hosts after posting 219/5.The victory also gave new T20I captain Shreyas Iyer his first series win after India lost the previous two T20I series under his leadership against Ireland (0-2) and England (0-4).Chasing 220, Zimbabwe's task became difficult after losing five wickets inside the first nine overs.
They were eventually bowled out for 129.Brian Bennett gave Zimbabwe an aggressive start, scoring 32 off 19 balls with three fours and three sixes. He took on debutant Yash Thakur, hitting him for a six and a four in succession, but the pacer responded immediately as Bennett's attempted ramp shot was caught by wicketkeeper Kishan.Thakur finished with 2/30, while the Indian bowlers kept picking up wickets at regular intervals.Ryan Burl and Tadi Marumani made scores in the 20s, but Zimbabwe never managed to build a partnership that could put pressure on India.Part-time spinners Tilak Varma and Abhishek Sharma also chipped in with wickets, with Abhishek returning figures of 3/17 as India wrapped up the innings comfortably.India, however, suffered an injury concern when pacer Prince Yadav walked off the field holding his hamstring after bowling 1.2 overs.
He finished with figures of 2/10.Earlier, India recovered from 29/2 after being asked to bat first.Kishan first added 66 runs for the third wicket with captain Shreyas Iyer, who scored 25, before putting together a 94-run stand with Tilak Varma.Kishan made 81 off 44 balls. He reached his fifty in 31 deliveries before adding another 31 runs in just 13 balls.
Much of his scoring came on the leg side, where he repeatedly found the boundary.He hit Bennett for two fours through the mid-wicket region and later struck pacer Brad Evans for two fours and a six in the same area.Tilak remained unbeaten on 60 off 29 balls. He reached his fifty in just 23 deliveries and attacked Zimbabwe's leading pacer Blessing Muzarabani with three successive boundaries.
One of those came with a late dab behind point using the bowler's pace, while he also hit Evans for a six over mid-wicket.India scored 61 runs in the final five overs.The visitors had earlier lost both openers cheaply.Abhishek Sharma was caught at point off Muzarabani, while Vaibhav Sooryavanshi made 20 off nine balls, including a sequence of 4, 6, 4 and 4 against Richard Ngarava.
The left-arm pacer, however, had the final word as Sooryavanshi mistimed a bouncer to Muzarabani at mid-on.From there, Kishan and Tilak took control to set up another comfortable win for India.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.