In the fifth Twenty20 International match between Zimbabwe and India in Harare, skipper Sikandar Raza finally had some success with the toss as he won the coin flip using a brand-new method for the first time in the series. He stated that Zimbabwe will bowl first since he thought the wicket would improve for batting later.
“Knowing our wickets, I think they’ll keep getting better,” Raza said at the toss. “There is the drive, the self-assurance, and the skill set. Our goal is to end the series with a bang.”
Tendai Chatara had played in all four of the day games, thus the hosts made one change: they rested him in preparation for the July 25 Test match against Ireland. His substitute, Brandon Mavuta, will play in his first series game.
Shubman Gill, the captain of India, declared two changes and stated that the visitors had always intended to bat first. On the bowling front, Khaleel Ahmed was replaced by Mukesh Kumar, and in the middle order, Ruturaj Gaikwad was replaced by Riyan Parag.
“Our spinners have bowled pretty well, in my opinion. In the powerplay, our fast bowlers have also been quite frugal, according to Gill. “It was exciting to observe the athletes’ extreme hunger. Playing back-to-back games is difficult, but players have been eager, particularly following a loss in the first match.”
India hopes to finish the series with a 4-1 victory. After winning the first game of the trip, Zimbabwe will try to round up the series with a second victory.
In addition, this game is a last opportunity for those hoping to leave their imprint before India’s next T20I series begins on July 27 in Sri Lanka. There has been no announcement on the team for the three-game series or the three ODIs that will come after.
Zimbabwe: 1 Wessly Madhevere, 2 Tadiwanashe Marumani, 3 Brian Bennett, 4 Sikandar Raza (capt), 5 Johnathan Campbell, 6 Dion Myers, 7 Clive Madande (wk), 8 Faraz Akram, 9 Blessing Muzarabani, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Brandon Mavuta.
India: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Shubman Gill (capt), 3 Abhishek Sharma, 4 Riyan Parag, 5 Sanju Samson (wk), 6 Rinku Singh, 7 Shivam Dube, 8 Washington Sundar, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Mukesh Kumar.
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