Jaiswal, Gill smash Zimbabwe bowlers, India secure series with 3-1 lead

Skipper Shubman Gills poise complemented Yashasvi Jaiswals flair as the young Indian team cantered to a 10wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the ZIM vs IND 4th T20I taking an unassailable 31 lead in the fivematch seriesThis is the second time India beat Zimbabwe by 10 wickets after a similarmargin win at the same venue in 2016Jaiswal and Gills approach was in complete contrast as the Mumbai southpaw went hammer and tongs during his unbeaten 93run knock while the skipper 58 not out in the ZIM vs IND 4th T20I was ready to play second fiddle in a chase of 153 which was completed in 152 oversThe target was made to look way easier than it should have been on a track that had good bounce and carryJaiswal who had to sit out during the T20 World Cup campaign hardly looked rusty playing shots all around the wicketThe thumping bowlers backdrive off rival skipper Sikandar Raza was delightful and equally stylish was the pickup pulloff Richard Ngarava for a sixThe lack of pace in the Zimbabwean attack on a good wicket became the home teams undoing as the dominant Jaiswal had reached his halfcentury with nine boundaries when the skipper was yet to reach 15Also ReadItrsquos time to seal the dealThere was no way that Zimbabwe could have stopped the runfeast as towards the end the bigger interest was whether the two flagbearers of Indian batting into the next decade could reach their milestones of halfcentury and centuryIt was Gill who got his fifty and that didnt leave Jaiswal with enough runs to complete his hundredEarlier Indias parttime bowlers Shivam Dube and Abhishek Sharma performed commendably in the middle overs to restrict Zimbabwe to a manageable 152 for seven after being put into bat by GillRaza smashed 46 off 28 balls but Indias fifth bowler Abhishek 120 in 3 overs and sixth option Dube 111 in 2 overs produced a decent effort to keep the proceedings under controlThey removed the dangerouslooking opening duo of Wesley Madhevere 25 off 24 balls and Tadiwanashe Marumani 32 off 31 balls to put brakes in the middle oversHowever Raza with three sixes and two fours was the reason that Zimbabwe reached a 150plus target with almost all the Indian bowlers save legspinner Ravi Bishnoi entering their names in the wickets column Medium fast bowler Tushar Deshpande 130 in 3 overs was handed a debut cap but in his first spell he flattered to deceive either pitching it too full or bowling too shortMore often than not he drifted on the pads allowing both openers Madhevere and Marumani to pick up easy boundariesDeshpande would feel good that he could get rid of Raza with a slower delivery in the slog overs to prevent Zimbabwe from surpassing 170 which would have been par on this trackZimbabwes best opening stand for the series in the first three games was 9 but Madhevere and Marumani added 63 in a solid stand even if it was not exactly spectacularHowever once the opening stand was broken by leftarm spinner Abhishek who forced Marumani to mistime a pullshot into Rinku Singhs hands Zimbabwe couldnt press home the advantage they had gainedMadhevere was accounted for by Dube as he couldnt get the required elevation and distance to a short ball Rinku at deep midwicket completed formalityBrian Bennett 9 off 14 balls who was brilliant with the bat in the second game failed to get going before Washington sent him back This was after Dube and Abhishek bowled wicket to wicket and kept a check on scoringWith agency inputs