Reckless and careless, India contrive to lose the second T20I against Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe had never won a T20 International at Harare before 19 July. They had lost nine out of nine. They had also never beaten India in a T20I. Both streaks came to a screeching halt at the end of 40 overs on Sunday as Zimbabwe celebrated a famous win. They had learned from their mistakes, while India hadn’t. It was poor running, irresponsible batting and undisciplined bowling that undid India. It started off with the pace bowlers bowling too short and then too wide. The Zimbabwe batsmen were ready to take on the short stuff but bowlers refused to adjust. Nearly 43 percent of the balls India bowled were short of a good length. It took some brilliant death bowling from Bhuvneshwar Kumar to restrict Zimbabwe to 145 for 7 as India conceded just 33 runs from the last five overs, while taking four wickets. [caption id=“attachment_2351508” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Complaceny cost India the match as India and Zimbabwe shared the two match T20I series. AFP Photos.[/caption] Sandeep Sharma continued from where he left off in the last match and never got his lines right. He drifted down leg way too many times and was hammered for 39 runs from his four overs. India ended up conceding 16 extras, including nine wides. They had bowled eight wides in the first match too. Zimbabwe, on the other hand, had conceded 25 extras in their last match. In this match, they conceded just two – a huge improvement. While chasing, India got off to a bad start. A huge misunderstanding between Murali Vijay and Ajinkya Rahane brought about Rahane’s downfall in the first over via a run-out. However, India were still going at a good rate thanks to Robin Uthappa and got to their 50 inside six overs. But then Vijay mistimed a pulled shot and lost his offstump to Graeme Cremer. There was no need for an aggressive shot from Vijay at that stage and it sparked a mini-collapse. Manish Pandey was the first to go. He missed a straighter one three balls later and was trapped LBW by Cremer. India had lost two wickets in one over. Meanwhile Uthappa was going well and played some sublime shots through the leg side. The need of the hour was a partnership and he was the set batsman. This was also his chance to play a match-winning innings and send a strong message to India’s selectors. After failing in the third ODI, Uthappa had said, “The third game I should have consolidated, but made one error. A lot of hard work and eventually one error cost me.” He had done the hard yards here too. It was now time to be sensible but what did he do? He tried to go the aerial route and hit the ball straight back to the Sean Williams, the bowler. India were four down but another piece of carelessness put them in more trouble in the next over. Stuart Binny flicked one to mid-wicket off Cremer and set off. The opportunity to take two was there but Jadhav was slow off the blocks. Still, they decided to go for it. Taurai Muzarabani rushed in from deep mid-wicket and scored a direct hit at the non-striker’s end. Jadhav was caught short and India paid for more laid-back running. They had now lost four wickets for 12 runs in three overs. Sanju Samson joined Binny in the middle. Their stand was crucial as they were the last recognised batsmen for India. They put on 36 but then Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza decided to bring in the best bowler of the day - Cremer - in the 16th over. India needed 41 off 30 - within reach in T20Is these days. They could have seen off Cremer but Binny had other ideas, he charged down the track and looked to hit him out of the park very first ball only to end up holing out to long off where Chibhabha pouched a brilliant catch diving forward. The Cremer over cost just four runs and Zimbabwe had the crucial wicket of Binny. “I was happy with the catch more than I was with the bat. We needed to get Binny out, he’s been brilliant all series. So happy to take the blinder.” Chamu Chibhabha, who had made 67 off 51, said after the match. Axar Patel survived a dropped chance in the next over before all hopes vanished when Samson holed out to long on off Christopher Mpofu in the 18th over. Bhuvneshwar’s run out off the third delivery of the last over trying to run for a bye perfectly epitomised India’s day at the office. India should have chased this down easily on a good batting wicket. Someone needed to stick around till the end but no one put his hand up. In contrast, Zimbabwe’s Chibhabha understood the importance of staying at the crease. “We lost a couple of wickets, so I looked to stick around a bit before playing my shots.” Throughout the tour, the Indian batsmen kept getting out to soft dismissals. They might have won the ODI series but this loss shows that those on the fringe of the first XI still have plenty to learn.