After wrapping up the ODI series 3-0 and winning the first T20I comfortably, India slipped to a 10-run defeat in the second T20I, also the last game of their Zimbabwe tour. Indian captain, Ajinkya Rahane, was gracious in accepting that Zimbabwe played better cricket on the day and that they deserved to win.
“We have to give credit to Zimbabwe. I thought they played really well today,” Rahane said. “Their bowling and fielding was really up to the mark.
“Since we lost those three-four wickets, it automatically gave them the momentum and pumped them up. Their energy was good. The way their spinners bowled, it brought them back in the game.
“They mixed up their pace well and used the slowness of the wicket to their advantage. We also had two run-outs and they took two very good catches,” Rahane said.
India’s chase of 146 got off to a rocky start with Rahane getting run-out in the first over. The innings was steadied by Robin Uthappa (42) and Murali Vijay (14) with a 53-run partnership for the second wicket to take the team to 57 for 1 after six overs. But India lost three wickets in the next three overs, which put their chase in jeopardy. With 45 required off the last six overs, Rahane said India still believed they could pull off a win.
“Robin and Vijay were batting very well. We were 57 for one after six overs and then lost the momentum. We couldn’t get another partnership going to wrest back the control. We accept that we didn’t bat well,” he said
“It was still gettable with six overs left and we all believed it was. One or two good overs could have made things easy for us. But losing wickets put us behind the required run-rate.”
While the Indian captain was disappointed with the loss, he was pleased with the quality of cricket played by his team throughout the tour.
“I am happy with the kind of cricket we played overall in the series but disappointed with the loss today,” Rahane said. “We did well as a batting unit – Rayudu and Jadhav got hundreds, Vijay and I got fifties. But we can still improve and the guys will have to lift their games further. It is good to have a healthy competition for places in the side and we all enjoy that. I am sure this will help Indian cricket get better day by day.”
