India completed a 3-0 sweep of Zimbabwe with a 35-run win in the third and final T20I in Harare on Sunday, thanks to Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s 81 and a disciplined bowling effort led by Mayank Yadav.The series win also marked a turnaround for India after losing their previous two T20I series against England (0-4) and Ireland (0-2).Defending 193 on a slow pitch, India restricted Zimbabwe to 157/7 despite an unbeaten 54 from Ryan Burl.Zimbabwe again lost early wickets and could not make good use of the powerplay. Yash Thakur (2/45) dismissed Dion Myers and the captain Sikandar Raza off successive deliveries in the over, reducing the hosts to 34/3.
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Earlier, Mayank Yadav (3/29) gave India the perfect start by dismissing Brian Bennett with the first ball of the innings. Bowling with pace and accuracy, Mayank kept Zimbabwe under pressure throughout.India also dropped four catches and leaked a couple of boundaries in another below-par fielding display.Burl tried to revive the chase with a partnership of 60 for the fifth wicket with Wesley Madhevere (28), but Zimbabwe had already lost too many wickets to stay in the contest.Earlier, India also suffered an early setback after electing to bat, losing Abhishek Sharma for 2. The left-hander edged Blessing Muzarabani to wicketkeeper Tadi Marumani, extending his poor run in T20Is. Abhishek’s last six scores now read: 10, 16, 3, 1, 8 and 2, dating back to the third T20I against England in Nottingham last month.Sooryavanshi, however, is well suited to the conditions. The 15-year-old played his innings carefully on the slow surface at Harare Sports Club. He scored just 11 runs from his first 10 balls and added 15 more in the next 10 deliveries before bringing up his second T20I fifty in 31 balls.U Bihar batter also produced some attractive shots. He drove Brad Evans through the straight boundary off a yorker and then hit Sikandar Raza for a 102-metre six. He also played a reverse sweep for four against Wesley Madhevere. Overall, it was a controlled innings from the teenager.Sooryavanshi added 75 runs for the second wicket with Ishan Kishan (29) before sharing another 50-run stand with the captain. Shreyas Iyer (27).He missed a century when Brad Evans took a catch at length off the bowling of Madhevere.After the dismissals of Sooryavanshi and Shreyas, India’s middle order could not score quickly. The team managed just 47 runs in the last five overs, with Rinku Singh’s 25 off 14 balls helping India finish close to the 200-run mark.