India completed a 3-0 series sweep over Zimbabwe with a 35-run win in the third and final T20I in Harare on Sunday, thanks to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s 81 and a disciplined bowling effort led by Mayank Yadav.The series victory also marked a turnaround for India after losing their previous two T20I series against England (0-4) and Ireland (0-2).Defending 193 on a slow pitch, India restricted Zimbabwe to 157/7 despite an unbeaten 54 from Ryan Burl.Zimbabwe once again lost early wickets and could not make good use of the powerplay. Yash Thakur (2/45) removed Dion Myers and captain Sikandar Raza off successive deliveries in the fourth over, reducing the hosts to 34/3.
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Earlier, Mayank Yadav (3/29) gave India the perfect start by dismissing Brian Bennett with the first ball of the innings. Bowling with pace and accuracy, Mayank kept Zimbabwe under pressure throughout.India also dropped four catches and leaked a couple of boundaries in another below-par fielding display.Burl tried to revive the chase with a 60-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Wesley Madhevere (28), but Zimbabwe had already lost too many wickets to stay in the contest.Earlier, India also suffered an early setback after choosing to bat, losing Abhishek Sharma for 2. The left-hander edged Blessing Muzarabani to wicketkeeper Tadi Marumani, extending his poor run in T20Is. Abhishek’s last six scores now read: 10, 16, 3, 1, 8 and 2, dating back to the third T20I against England in Nottingham last month.Sooryavanshi, however, adapted well to the conditions. The 15-year-old paced his innings carefully on the slow Harare Sports Club surface. He scored just 11 runs from his first 10 balls and added 15 more in the next 10 deliveries before bringing up his second T20I fifty in 31 balls.The Bihar batter still produced some eye-catching shots. He drove Brad Evans through the straight boundary off a yorker and later hit Sikandar Raza for a 102-metre six. He also played a reverse sweep for four against Wesley Madhevere. Overall, it was a controlled innings from the teenager.Sooryavanshi added 75 runs for the second wicket with Ishan Kishan (29) before sharing another 50-run stand with captain Shreyas Iyer (27).He missed out on a century when Brad Evans took a catch at long-off off Madhevere’s bowling.After the dismissals of Sooryavanshi and Shreyas, India’s middle order could not score quickly. The team managed only 47 runs in the final five overs, with Rinku Singh’s 25 off 14 balls helping India finish close to the 200-run mark.
