Prior to India keeping their composure to pull off a 13-run victory in the third ODI and complete a series sweep here on Monday, Sikandar Raza’s valiant performance put Zimbabwe on the verge of a historic victory.
The series’ final game also appeared to be going India’s way until Brad Evans and Raza (115 off 95 balls) helped Zimbabwe get back in the game (28 off 36).
In order to increase the likelihood of a remarkable outcome against their formidable opponents, the pair shared a 104-run stand off 77 balls for the eighth wicket. However, India barely prevailed as Raza was caught by Shubman Gill in the penultimate over.
The game had been set up for India by Gill, who scored his first international hundred and led the visitors to 289 for 8. 276 runs were scored by Zimbabwe in 49.3 overs.
Early in the Zimbabwean chase, Sean Williams (45 off 46) and Raza made some audacious strokes.
With the new ball, Deepak Chahar once more impressed, and in the middle overs, left-arm spinner Axar Patel picked up some much-needed wickets.
