"Like a net session"- Fans hail Shubman Gill & Shikhar Dhawan as India crush Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in 1st ODI
Team India made an absolute mockery of their run-chase in the first ODI against Zimbabwe on Thursday (August 18), beating the hosts by 10 wickets.
Chasing just 190 runs, Shubman Gill (82*) and vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan (81*) continued from where they left off in the serie win against West Indies. They almost didn't break a sweat as they completed the run chase in just 30.5 overs.
Their strong unbeaten opening stand of 192 runs further justified the decision of captain KL Rahul to bat in the middle-order.
Zimbabwe needed early wickets to make a match out of the total that they had to defend. However, that wasn't to be as India coasted towards a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
Fans on Twitter hailed the duo of Gill and Dhawan for yet another impressive opening stand. Here are some of the reactions:
Like a net session for Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan. Main priority for the remaining two games for India is time at the crease for KL Rahul.
Shikhar Dhawan said, "Shubman Gill is a tremendous batter and it's lovely to watch him from the other end. The way he has come in and scored runs consistently, converting starts into big fifties is amazing".
Shubman Gill has made excellent use of his opportunities recently.
64, 43, 98* and 82* in his last four ODI knocks. Never doubted his abilities but now he is ensuring his seamless transition into the Indian top-order, once the likes of Rohit, Kohli and Dhawan retire.
#ZIMvsIND
Most #ODI runs for India since 2020
#Dhawan #KLRahul #BCCI https://t.co/J9OAFo6bF0
.Shikhar Dhawan has been consistently scoring runs in ODI format. Another half century for him🙌.
Shikhar Dhawan's last 4 innings in ODIs:-
97(99).
13(31).
58(74).
81*(113). https://t.co/dbLUfRq29Q
3rd hundred run partnership by Gill & Dhawan from 4 innings in ODI format as an opening pair.
Runs in winning cause
Shubman Gill 554/833- 67%
Babar Azam 6133/10324- 59%
Gill is a bigger match winner than Babar. Discuss! twitter.com/_FaridKhan/sta…
Performance of Shubman Gill in the last 4 ODI matches:
64(53)
43(49)
98*(98)
82*(72) https://t.co/ZBBDKuvyEB
Shikhar Dhawan has scored 11 fifties in the last 22 innings in the ODI format - consistency.
My favourite @SDhawan25 again proved why he is the best opener in Odis.
#ZIMvsIND https://t.co/uvEjgztLrK
Team India completed 13th consecutive win against Zimbabwe
KL Rahul won the toss at the Harare Sports Club and chose to bowl first. He had stated the importance of the bowlers to hit the right areas on the pitch that had moisture for them to work with.
Deepak Chahar obliged and bagged stunning figures of 3/27 on his comeback in the Indian team. Prasidh Krishna was also impressive, picking up three wickets of his own.
A ninth wicket partnership between Brad Evans and Richard Ngarava meant that Zimbabwe stretched their score to 189 before getting bowled out. While it looked like a fighting total, the visitors were almost flawless in their chase as they didn’t give any room for the hosts to sniff a fightback.
Shikhar Dhawan was once again dominant at the top of the order, and Shubman Gill gradually joined the veteran as runs began to flow from both ends. The match, which ended with almost 19 overs left, tells the manner of dominance that the Men in Blue managed over the hosts.
Zimbabwe certainly have some thinking to do, especially with their batting as they will need to post a bigger total to challenge this Indian team.
The second ODI will take place at the same venue on August 20.