Harare: Teenaged batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi etched his name in the history books with an 18-ball half-century as India clinically chased down a modest target of 126 to register a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first T20I at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on Thursday.
The result also meant that Shreyas Iyer finally got a win as India’s T20I captain on his eighth attempt. After India restricted Zimbabwe to a paltry 125/7, the reigning T20 World Cup winners were always going to easily hunt it down.
Sooryavanshi's 18-ball fifty, laced with four boundaries and as many sixes, made him the youngest player to score a half-century in international cricket. His blitzkrieg reduced the chase to a mere formality as India reached home with 40 balls remaining.
Chasing 126, Sooryavanshi dismantled Richard Ngarava in the second over by smashing two mammoth sixes and a boundary to collect 20 runs. Despite losing opening partner Abhishek Sharma (1) to Blessing Muzarabani in the third over, Sooryavanshi showed no signs of slowing down. He continued his onslaught against Brad Evans, whipping him for consecutive boundaries, before smashing Muzarabani for two fours and a six down the ground.
From the other end, Ishan Kishan capitalised on poor lines from debutant Newman Nyamhuri to get three boundaries, even as Sooryavanshi brought up his maiden international fifty off just 18 balls at the venue where he hit an explosive 175 in this year’s U19 World Cup final. But on the very next ball, his knock ended when he top-edged Ngarava to deep third man in the seventh over.
By then, India were in a commanding position, and Kishan, along with Shreyas Iyer (27 not out) and Tilak Varma (5 not out), ensured there were no further hiccups in guiding India home and taking a 1-0 lead in the three-game series.
Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 125/7 in 20 overs (Wessly Madhevere 39, Tadiwanashe Marumani 27 not out; Mayank Yadav 2-18, Prince Yadav 2-19) lost to India 126/3 in 13.2 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 50, Ishan Kishan 35; Blessing Muzarabani 2-26, Richard Ngarava 1-30) by seven wickets
