
Shubman Gill-led India beat Zimbabwe by 42 runs in the fifth and final T20I, on Sunday (July 14) at Harare, to clinch the five-match series 4-1. Being asked to bat first, India were struggling at 40for 3 before Sanju Samson's 45-ball 58 and Shivam Dube's 26 (12) took the visitors to 167 for 6. In reply, Zimbabwe only managed 125 in 18.3 overs courtesy of Mukesh Kumar's 4 for 22. During Samson's vital knock, he smashed a monstrous 110 metre six, which also became the longest maximum of the series. The right-hander, who resurrected the Indian innings after early blows, took on spinner BrandanMavuta and hit him for twin sixes in the 12th over, the first one going 110 metres.
Here is the video:
Samson stitched a valuable 65-run fourth-wicket stand with his Rajasthan Royals (RR) teammate Riyan Parag before adding more runs with Dube. He departed for a well-made 58, laced with a solitary four and 4 sixes. Thus, the wicketkeeper-batter, who was part of Rohit Sharma-led India's victorious run in the 2024 T20 World Cup in West Indies and the USA, joined the Gill-led India in Zimbabwe for the last three games and ended the series on a high.
At the post-match presentation, stand-in captain Gill said, "Excellent series. The hunger that we showed after the first loss was phenomenal to watch. Lot of the players had long flights, they weren't used to the conditions. The way they adapted was remarkable. I have been there (Sri Lanka) once for Asia Cup, looking forward to go there and performing."
India will now shift their focus to the white-ball tour of Sri Lanka, starting on July 27 with Gautam Gambhir set to officially take over as the head coach.