Vaibhav Sooryavanshi lit up the innings with a blistering cameo before Richard Ngarava had the final say in a dramatic over. The young batter smashed 20 off just nine deliveries, including three fours and a six, to put the Zimbabwe bowlers under pressure. His aggressive approach briefly swung the momentum in India's favour.
The fireworks began with a boundary on the second ball of the over as Sooryavanshi pulled a short delivery through square for four. He followed it up with a towering six over wide long-on after creating room against Ngarava. The left-hander then struck two more consecutive boundaries, driving both deliveries over mid-off to complete a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 4.
Just when Sooryavanshi looked set for an even bigger innings, Ngarava produced the breakthrough. The pacer bowled a shorter delivery that hurried the batter into a mistimed pull, sending the ball high towards mid-on. Blessing Muzarabani backtracked calmly to complete the catch, ending Sooryavanshi's entertaining knock and giving Ngarava the last laugh.
The 15-year-old has impressed on this tour of Zimbabwe, providing India with fast starts in the powerplay. Sooryavanshi had smoked a 18-ball half-century in the first game, and followed it up with a 9-ball 20.
While one could argue that Vaibhav should reign his instincts and play for longer, his quick starts fit the high scoring template India have adopted since the last few years. It was his cameo that set the base for the Men in Blue to blast 219, with fifties from Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma.
