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India National Cricket Team captain Shreyas Iyer opened up on the performance of his side in the first T20I of the three-match series against the Zimbabwe National Cricket Team on Thursday, July 23. India beat Zimbabwe by 7 wickets to win the first game and have a lead in the series 1-0.
Speaking after the win, Shreyas Iyer was happy with the team’s performance and said the bowling attack executed their plans very well in the first game at the Harare Sports Club, in Harare. He praised the bowling performance from Mayank Yadav as he gave India a good start with the new ball.
India bowlers shine in 1st T20I
India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl first, as the Men in Blue side came in with an inexperienced bowling attack, with Ashok Sharma making his T20I debut, and Mayank Yadav came back to the side after two years. Milton Shumba for Zimbabwe was ruled out ahead of the match.
After being asked to bat first Mayank Yadav, who returned to the side after two years, had a dream start as he picked the wicket in the very first ball picking the wicket of Brian Bennett as he was dismissed for a golden duck. The hosts lost half the side for 64 runs as India’s inexperienced bowling attack dominated over the Zimbabwe batters.
Prince Yadav and Mayank Yadav were the pick of the bowlers, as they finished their spells with 2/19 and 2/18 in their four overs respectively. Debutant Ashok Sharma failed to pick a wicket; Ravi Bishnoi and Shivam Dube picked one wicket each as Zimbabwe scored 125/7 in their 20 overs.
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scores a fifty
Coming out to chase, Abhishek Sharma went out early for just one run, but Vaibhav Sooryavanshi announced himself after failing in three matches, as he smacked a fifty in 18-deliveries and became the sixth fastest India batter to smash a T20I fifty. He also became the youngest batter to smack a fifty in the T20I game, as he is 15 years 118 days old.
After scoring the fifty, Sooryavanshi was back in the dressing room in the very next ball, smashing four boundaries and as many sixes. Then Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer stitched a partnership of 46 runs, as Kishan was out on the score of 35 runs off 24 balls; Iyer and Tilak Varma won the game with 40 balls to spare, as the captain was not out on 28 runs.
Shreyas Iyer happy after India's win
Shreyas Iyer stated that Vaibhav was exceptional in the match as he had the idea of playing at this ground, and he is also happy with his first win as he broke the record for the joint-longest streak of winning the toss but going winless as captain in T20Is, as he won his first match after 7 games.
Iyer, after the match, said, "Exceptional. They were tremendous in their execution. Can't be more happier to get my first win. I was anticipating the bounce and there was a decent amount of bounce. Exceptional start given by Mayank. Didn't give them room."
"Vaibhav came out and gave us an exceptional start with the bat. They analyzed the pitch and started building partnerships and that's when I wanted to rotate my bowlers as well. He is fearless, the way he approaches the innings is amazing. He posseses immense confidence when he steps onto the field."
Longest streak of winning the toss but going winless as captain in T20Is
7 - Prakash Mishra (Bulgaria, 2021)
7 - Shreyas Iyer (IND, 2026) - streak ended today
6 - Hernan Fennell (Argentina, 2021-2023)
Longest winless sequences for India in T20Is
7 - June 2026 - July 2026 (6 defeats, 1 NR) - streak ended today
4 - June 2009 - December 2009 (4 defeats)
4 - July 2021 - October 2021 (4 defeats)
