Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza was delighted after his team’s 13-run win in the opening T20I against India at the Harare Sports Club, Harare on Saturday. The hosts could only post 115-9 after they were put into bat by Shubman Gill but their bowlers were able to deliver the goods.
Zimbabwean bowlers were right on the money from the get-go, reducing India to 22-4 after five overs. The home team kept striking at regular intervals and didn’t allow any Indian batter to settle in.
Raza was happy with the team’s fielding and catching but feels there are still areas in which they can improve. The all-rounder also doesn’t want his team to get complacent against the T20 World Cup champions and believes the opposition will definitely bounce back stronger in the second game.
Meanwhile, Raza delivered with both bat and ball for his team. The right-hander scored 17 runs whereas he returned with impressive bowling figures of 3-25 in his quota of four overs, accounting for Shubman Gill, Ravi Bishnoi, and Avesh Khan.
Raza said in the post-match presentation, “Feel really happy about the win. Need to take one game at a time. The job is not done, series is not over. World champions play like world champions so we need to be ready for the next game. This isn’t a wicket where you get bowled out for 115. Credit to the bowlers of both sides. Clearly an indication we need to up our skills.”
He added, “I said I don’t care about the result as long as we could be true to the crowd and changing room, we had our plans, we stuck to it and we backed our guys. Our catching and ground fielding was amazing but we did make some errors, which shows there’s room for improvement. We knew the fans would lift us up and give us energy, credit to them, it helped us.”
Zimbabwe came up with a clinical performance with the ball as they were able to keep India’s young brigade at bay.
The second T20I of the series will be played at the same venue on Sunday.
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