Indian players in action. (Faheem Hussain / CREIMAS for BCCI)Abhishek Sharma picks three wickets to help India beat Zimbabwe by 90 runs. Earlier, Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma scored half-centuries to help India get to 219/5 from 20 overs after Zimbabwe skipper Sikandar Raza won the toss and opted to bowl first.
India vs Zimbabwe 2nd T20I Live Scorecard: Follow Here
The first game belonged to India’s young pace attack and teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Mayank Yadav made a strong comeback after nearly two years, picking up two wickets with his very first delivery.
India vs Zimbabwe T20I series 2026: All You Need To Know
Prince Yadav also chipped in, while debutant Ashok Sharma impressed with his raw pace. The chase was more like a formality ever after as Sooryavanshi smashed a record-breaking 18-ball half-century.
Well, what are the odds of Abhishek Sharma picking three wickets in an international T20I? That is what has happened today. Zimbabwe was so far out in this game; they just did not know how to navigate the second half of the innings. Yash Thakur was quite superb on his debut, and Ravi Bishnoi did tidy work to help India beat Zimbabwe and win the series.
India has picked up two more wickets here, and Zimbabwe has lost nine wickets. It has been a pretty sorry performance from them in this chase. While they wanted to go for the pretty admirable win, after a point, when it was clear they were not winning this game, they could have let their batters spend some time in the middle.
Abhishek Sharma has picked up the wicket of Evans here. The ball came in with the angle, and Evans had no answers to it. It has been one of those days for India; everything they did worked apart from the toss call. Although one thing they would still want to get right is the opening combination, which has not been working for a while.
Tilak Varma has come into the attack and picked up the wicket of Burl. It was not full enough to play that shot, but because Burl charged down the track and wanted to go through with the shot, he did, and the ball did not carry. Rinku Singh came forward and took a very good diving catch.
We have reached the water break, and it is highly unlikely Zimbabwe are going to win this game from this point on. It might not be a bad time for Shreyas Iyer to throw the ball to Rinku Singh for an over or Tilak Varma for an over just to see what they can deliver when the batters can go after them.
Shivam Dube is making this habit of picking wickets regularly, and he has done it again here. He has got the wicket of Madhevere, who charged down the track and ended up giving the catch to the mid-off fielder. Zimbabwe has lost half their side here. Apart from the toss, India could do no wrong today.
Ravi Bishnoi has picked up the wicket. It was a googly which came back into Myers, who just could not pick the delivery and lost his middle stump. And Prince Yadav picked up the wicket of Raza, who tried to cut the ball through the off-side and got the edge, which keeper Kishan completed. It is falling apart for Zimbabwe quite quickly.
Zimbabwe has lost two wickets in quick succession here. First it was Yash Thakur who picked up his maiden wicket as Bennett tried to scoop the ball and ended up giving the catch to the keeper, and then Prince Yadav struck off his first ball as he tried to work the ball on the leg side and it got the leading edge to third man.
Bennett has started this run-chase nicely for Zimbabwe. The good thing about the way he has approached this innings, he is trying to play the shots in his strength area, using the high pace of Mayank Yadav effectively. Curran, at the other end, did not have a lot of strike, but he too will be looking to get into the act given the runs Zimbabwe needs to get.
Mayank Yadav has taken the new ball for India. He has managed to hit hard lengths, and clearly Bennett was hurried up by the pace of the delivery; however managed to squeeze a couple of boundaries in that opening over to give Zimbabwe a pretty good start. Bennett is a superb player, as he has shown in the World Cup earlier.
Obviously, batting in the middle overs was slightly challenging here. But if you see, I think our score is around 220, if I'm not wrong. So, we feel it's a pretty good score. Shreyas and I were talking that anything around 200 would be a really good score here. But when you think about 200, obviously the score can go to 220, especially the way Ishan batted. It was tremendous to watch. Honestly, I love batting in the top order. But I always say that wherever the team needs me, I'm up for it. In the middle overs especially, you want to hit the gaps down the ground, so you can't take too much risk over the fielders. If you want to score through the ground, then you can become a good finisher. Since childhood, I've always aimed to finish games. So, that's what I'm trying to do. Since the Ireland and England series, I have been talking with our head coach, Gautam sir, and now with Laxman sir as well, about wanting to work through the ground. If you hit through the ground, your consistency improves. I spoke a lot with Gautam sir about finding the gaps. I really worked hard during the one-week break we had after the England series. I'm happy that it came through for me today.
That is a massive score India has put on the board. Ishan Kishan started the assault early on in the innings, and Tilak Varma provided the finishing touch. This is what more or less the Indian batting can do with so many power-hitters in the side; even if a couple of them come off like today, they will put on a massive total. A big chase for Zimbabwe is coming up in the next innings, so stay with us.
Ishan Kishan has fallen. He tried to carve the ball through the off-side against Nyamhuri, but was caught by the fielder at deep. Rinku Singh has walked into the middle as the new man. And India has gone past 200 here. The acceleration of this innings has been quite superb from India; it only went up through and through the overs.
Tilak Varma has smashed his half-century here. It is what the situation demanded from him when he walked in, and he delivered. The injection of momentum from this partnership after the 10th over has been quite surreal. Zimbabwe, who were chipping away with wickets regularly, have been blown away completely here. As we update Ishan Kishan falls.
There has been a massive change in the tempo with which India is batting here in the middle. Ishan Kishan clearly changed gears here. He was batting at a very good clip, and now he is striking at almost 200. Tilak Varma, too, who has got his eye in, is playing some lovely shots in the middle. The projected score is spiking up pretty quickly for India.
Ishan Kishan has scored 50 from just 31 deliveries here. The tempo of his innings today has been quite superb. He found the right blend of both aggression and defence. India are in a superb position to put a total over 200 runs here. Tilak Varma has walked into the middle, and he too can hit the long ball in those final overs.
Bennett has managed to get the breakthrough for Zimbabwe. It was a boundary opportunity for Iyer as the bowler threw one wide outside the off-stump, and Iyer, in his attempt to cut the ball, hit it straight to the point fielder. A timely wicket for Zimbabwe. Tilak Varma is the new batter who has walked into the middle.
50-run partnership has come up between Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan here. It has been a pretty timely partnership after two early wickets. While Kishan has taken a more aggressive route in the partnership, Iyer is anchoring the innings nicely. Zimbabwe needs to break this partnership; the longer these two bat together, the more damage they will do.
Ishan Kishan has started his innings well here. He needs to bat for a long period for India to put on a good total, which seems like 180 at this point. Throughout the series against Ireland and England in T20Is, India, apart from Shreyas Iyer, could not find another player who could play as a stabiliser.
Ngavara has dismissed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi since our last update. It is the short ball which did the trick. The batter tried to come down the track and hit the ball through the long-off region, but ended up giving a catch to Muzarambani. India has lost both their openers here in Harare. Shreyas Iyer is the new batter who has walked in.
Blessing Muzarambani picked up Abhishek Sharma. It did seem like the Indian batter could not judge the bounce of the delivery properly as he tried to open the face to guide the ball towards third man, but the ball hit high on the bat and carried to the point fielder, who took a very good catch. Another low score for Sharma in the series.
Sikandar Raza has taken the new ball for Zimbabwe. With two left-handers in the middle, it is a good tactical move from the skipper himself; however, Abhishek Sharma managed to get a couple of boundaries away in that opening over. It is an afternoon start here in Harare, so the pitch might start a bit sticky here.
Both Indian openers are waiting in the dugout. The sun is shining quite brightly, and given that India is batting first, they will have an opportunity to put on a massive total. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi gave a glimpse of what he can do in the previous game, while Abhishek Sharma missed out. The latter would want to correct that part today.
I think, to be very honest, the pitch was not that easy. It looked settled in the first innings after a few overs, but when we were batting, I thought the pitch had double pace and double bounce at the same time. So, it was not just easy to go out and take on the bowlers from ball one. We just took our time and we knew the total was not that big, so we were just trying to play the right shots whenever needed. [On adapting to different conditions around the world] I think, as an international cricketer and as a professional, you need to adapt as soon as possible because there's no point playing shots that aren't available. If you go for them and end up losing your wicket, it puts the team on the back foot. So it's always about the team first. If you have that in mind, I think you'll be the best judge of the pitch while you're in the middle and you'll just play the right shots. [On his IPL form, T20I year and dealing with the short ball] I think there's always room for improvement, but at the same time, when we went to England, I don't think there's a problem with the short ball. It's more about understanding the areas where you want to score and whether those shots are on or not. Understanding that is the key point. Coming here, it's also about assessing which bowlers are getting extra bounce and which aren't, who you can attack and who you can't, whether you can go over midwicket or whether you'll have to use the pace. You just have to adapt in the middle to all these things. Once you get it right, I think you're good to go.
We were going to bat first. [On how the pitch looks] I feel it looks a bit different. It's not as tacky as it was in the first game. I feel the bounce will be consistent, and that's what I'm hoping. But let's see how it plays. [On the message to the young side after a comprehensive win] We just passed on the message to all the boys that it's important to stay in the present and not be complacent because when you have such a comprehensive win, you tend to take things easily. I think it's essential for us to enjoy the moment as well as make sure that we play to the best of our abilities. There is a lot of potential in the dressing room and if they turn up today with a solid approach, then definitely the results will take care of themselves. [Team news] We have one change - Yash Thakur comes in for Ashok Sharma.
We want to bowl first. First reason being the winter wicket as we know, it's slightly spicier at the start, so hopefully we can make early inroads and then see what comes in the batting order later on. [On the surface looking different from the first game] The surface is certainly a lot better today than it was in the first game, so it may not be as spicy, but we know that in Harare, especially during winter, there will be a bit of spice at the start and hopefully our seamers can make inroads. If they do, it'll go a long way towards helping us stop them. [On team changes] No. We're going to back the same boys. We've got the same side.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Yash Thakur, Mayank Yadav
Brian Bennett, Ben Curran, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza(c), Ryan Burl, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani(w), Brad Evans, Newman Nyamhuri, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani
India Squad: Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Ravi Bishnoi, Prince Yadav, Ashok Sharma, Mayank Yadav, Suryansh Shedge, Harsh Dubey, Prabhsimran Singh, Yash Thakur
Zimbabwe Squad: Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani(w), Ben Curran, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza(c), Ryan Burl, Wessly Madhevere, Brad Evans, Newman Nyamhuri, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Tafadzwa Tsiga, Innocent Kaia, Tanaka Chivanga, Wellington Masakadza
“Marumani and Madhevere - thought they batted really well to give us some sort of a respectable total. We'll take that as a positive, and hopefully the other guys can chip in as well so that we can put up a competitive total if we bat first."
“Ravi Bishnoi's series was not good in England and there was a lot of talk about no-bowl. He hasn't changed anything in his action. He has re-aligned his run-up. We've also communicated with Sairaj [Bahutule]. So, we've had good conversations with him. And eventually, we've seen that he's not even going close to the return crease also, which is very pleasing for him, honestly, and for us also.”
Hello and welcome to our live blog of India taking on Zimbabwe from Harare. India gave a clinical performance in the first game to register its first win under Shreyas Iyer's captaincy. They would want to win today and take the series away, and try to experiment with a few things in tomorrow's game.
Mayank Yadav passes first Test with flying colours, but bigger challenges await
When Mayank Yadav dismissed Brian Bennett with the very first ball of Zimbabwe’s innings on Thursday, it felt like time had stood still. The 24-year-old was doing precisely what made him one of India’s most promising pace prospects — only, a little later than expected. Bowling at close to 150 kph, hitting hard lengths and unsettling batsmen — traits that had earned Mayank the distinction of being special.
By the time his spell ended, Mayank had figures of 2/18 from four overs, which was enough for him to win the Player of the Match on his return to international cricket after 21 months. (READ MORE)
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