Twitter Reactions: India deny a spirited and stunning Sikandar Raza to complete whitewash over Zimbabwe

Sikandar Raza single-handedly took his side home, before falling at the dying stages of the nail-biting finale.

By Chaitanya Prakash

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3 Min Read

Sikandar Raza
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Sikandar Raza (Photo Source: Twitter)

India won the third ODI against Zimbabwe by 13 runs in a thrilling series finale. The hosts almost pulled off a sensational heist on the back of their ace batter Sikandar Raza, who single-handedly took his side home, before falling at the fag end of the innings. For the third successive time in the series, the Zimbabwe openers failed to add any significant contribution to the team. The in-form Sean Williams steadied the ship for the hosts in the earlier part of the chase with a well-compiled 45 off 46 balls.

When the seventh Zimbabwe wicket fell on 169, the result in the match seemed like a foregone conclusion. But Sikandar Raza, who had guided the hosts to two sensational chases in the previous series against Bangladesh, registered a sensational ton off just 87 deliveries to take Zimbabwe inches away from the Indian total, which looked improbable at one time.

The centurion was complimented valiantly by bowling all-rounder Brad Evans from the other end, who kept rotating the strike in pressure situations and came up with some crucial boundaries himself. The spin twins, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav stifled the run flow in the middle overs, grabbing two wickets each. But it was Shardul Thakur who produced the killer blow by dismissing Raza in the penultimate over to kill the hopes of the home team.

Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan stole the show with their stellar partnership in the first innings

Earlier, the Indian skipper won the toss for the third consecutive time in the series and decided to bat first in the match, aiming to give proper game time to the Indian batters. The opening pair of Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan gave India a solid start but failed to kick on after getting starts in their innings.

Both the Indian openers departed in quick succession as the hosts made an attempt to reclaim the ascendency in the series finale. But the young batting pair of Ishan Kishan and Shubman Gill extinguished all hopes of a Zimbabwean revival as they stitched up a mammoth 140 runs stand for the third wicket.

Gill in particular looked in supreme touch and after missing out on a deserved century in a rain-curtailed affair against the Windies, finally breached the three-figure mark to register his first international century, following in the footsteps of Rohit Sharma and KL Rahul, who notched up their maiden international tons against the same opposition.

The elegant youngster’s gorgeous innings propelled India to a total of 289 in their fifty overs as the hosts stifled the momentum of the batters at the death. Brad Evans was the pick of the Zimbabwe bowling unit, scalping a fantastic maiden five-for in the match.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

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