Harare 22 August : A youngster Shubman Gill scored a world-class century first in international cricket, to lift India to 289/8 in their 50-over match in the third and last ODI of the series against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club on Monday.Following captain KL Rahul and his deputy Shikhar Dhawan scored 64 runs in the opening stand, Gill (130 off 97 balls fifteen fours, and six) and Ishan Kishan (50 off 64 balls and six fours) put 140 runs to make it the third wicket.
the latter was run out to give India a decent score on a wicket that had been used.
For Zimbabwe who suffered some of dropped catches the pacer Brad Evans took his maiden five-wicket haul in ODI cricket with the figures of 5-54.
He altered his pace and changed his lines effectively as Zimbabwe’s batsmen were able to pull back in the final ten overs, grabbing six wickets, while conceding an average of 79 runs.
From the moment he hit the first boundary, a graceful straight shot into the ground with the full length of the bat from Evans, Gill exhibited timing and the right placement in his shots, which was the most notable aspect of his 97-ball stay in the crease.
On a surface where other batters took a while to get in, Gill was head and shoulders above everyoneelse, as evident from his smile when he scored his first ODI century in 82 balls.
He frequently slipped through the gap in the cover with his drives that looked solid and gorgeous.
He even used the sweeps, scoops and his most popular short-arm jabs in order to be the most outstanding batter for India in their innings.He was calm, calm and appeared in absolute control to score the top ODI score of an Indian batter in Zimbabwe surpassing Sachin Tendulkar’s 127-run unbeaten run in 1998 in Bulawayo.
In batting first, after bowling twice in previous matches, Shikhar Dhawan feasted on the erratic lines and lengths of Richard Ngarava and Victor Nyauchi by smashing four fours in the first nine overs, and then was dropped on 17 as well.
Captain in stand-in KL Rahul was understandably cautious in the first ten innings before unleashing the backfoot punch and bending over the backward square leg to collect the four and six off Brad Evans.
Just as it appeared that Rahul was about to take the big wicket, he chopped on to his stumps off Evans.Six more overs after that, Evans had another wicket when Dhawan chipped an edge to cover.
Gill began his calming display and a portion of it was felt by Kishan who regularly cleared the boundaries on the leg side with ease to score his second ODI fifty.
The duo put together their 50-run partnership in 62 balls and then hit their century in only 101 balls.
Just as it appeared India would reach 300 runs, Kishan lost his wicket and Deepak Hooda was down in rapid succession.After he had reached his century mark, Gill and Sanju Samson hit some huge boundaries before Sanju Samson made a decision to cut a deep square legs with aplomb.
With Axar Patel being a cheap target, Gill hit two more fours to increase his scoring rate.However, in the attempt to take a loft off Evans his bottom hand, Evans went off and was snagged at long off.Evans made his first five-for in ODIs when he tricked Shardul Thakur with an earlier ball and was trapped at the cover as 33 runs were scored off the final four overs.
Brief Scores: India 289-8 in 50 overs (Shubman Gill 130, Ishan Kishan 50; Brad Evans 5-54, Victory Nyauchi 1-48) against Zimbabwe
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