India 126 for 3 (Sooryavanshi 50, Kishan 35, Muzarabani 2-26) beat Zimbabwe 125 for 7 (Madhevere 39, Mayank 2-18, Prince 2-19) by seven wickets

In front of a boisterous home crowd, India put on a show as Sooryavanshi broke the back of the chase in a blazing start. Sooryavanshi took on the Zimbabwean seamers and raced to 48 off 17 balls in the powerplay before getting to fifty off the next ball he faced. He did not bat to the end and it was up to Shreyas Iyer to finish things off. India won with 40 balls to spare to leave Zimbabwe, sporting retro jerseys in the same design as their 1992 ODI World Cup kit, with plenty of work to do ahead of the weekend. The next two matches will be played on Saturday and Sunday, in front of sell out crowds.

India strike straightaway

India kept pressure on Zimbabwe through the powerplay and made two more incisions. Prince had debutant Ben Curran caught at midwicket and it was only a matter of time before Mayank got Myers when he tried to pull a delivery that was not short enough and chipped it to mid-on. Zimbabwe were 26 for 3 after the first six overs.

Madhevere makes his best in two years

Zimbabwe were 32 for 4 in the eighth over when Wessley Madhevere came in to bat, with a job on his hands. He was given out lbw to Ravi Bishnoi, off the seventh ball he faced but reviewed and UltraEdge showed a thin spike. Then he bided his time while Ryan Burl took the attack to India and was dismissed for 26 trying to go big. Madhevere was on 14 off 21 balls in the 16th over when he finally upped the ante with back-to-back boundaries off Ashok Sharma.

Then, he cleared the front leg to send Bishnoi over long-on for six and was striking at more than 100. He batted to the final over, where he was run-out trying to push for a second but shared a crucial 58-run stand with Tadiwanashe Marumani, Zimbabwe’s highest partnership in a lean innings. Madhevere finished on 39 off 34 balls – his best score in 16 innings, since his 43 against the same opposition at the same venue in July 2024.

Sooryavanshi scales the heights of Zimbabwe

At 15-years old, Sooryavanshi is bound to have a lot of new experiences and today’s was facing some of the world’s tallest. With India in pursuit of 126, he fronted up to Blessing Muzarabani, who immediately laid down the gauntlet. Muzarabani welcomed the teenager with a bouncer on leg stump but Sooryavanshi had the perfect response. He tried to ramp it over the wicket-keeper but did not connect. He got off the mark off Muzarabani so if there were any nerves, they were settled.

Then he had to face the even taller Richard Ngarava. Zimbabwe’s Test and ODI captain started with a Test-match style delivery that teased the outside edge as it swung away. Pressure was soon reversed. Ngarava’s next ball was wide and that was what Sooryavanshi needed to see. He moved inside the line of the next ball and hit Ngarava over backward square for six, then through extra cover for four and then off the back foot over long-off for six more.

Ngarava was replaced by Brad Evans, whose first two balls to Sooryavanshi cost 10 runs but he saved his best for Muzarabani. In the fifth over, Sooryavanshi played the shot of the innings when he sent Muzarabani over long-on for six, in-between two fours. Sooryavanshi raced to 48 off 17 balls in the first five overs and reached fifty off 18 balls shortly afterwards. There was no more fun for the young man though as he reached for a wide Ngarava ball immediately after reaching the milestone and was caught at deep third. India were 68 for 2 at that point, and needed only 58 more to win.

Kishan and Iyer finish it off

Sooryavanshi’s dismissal quietened things down for only one over, which went boundary-less, before Ishan Kishan sent Evans over fine leg for his first six and got things rolling again. He shared in a 46-run third-wicket stand with Iyer, who brought up India’s hundred with a boundary off the edge. The shot of their partnership was the six Ishan hit off Newman Nyamhuri at the end of the 11th over, which was pulled over fine leg. India needed 14 runs off the last nine overs and got there in the 14th over.