Harare, August 23 - In the third and final ODI match of India vs Zimbabwe played in Harare, India won by 13 runs and snatched the series by 3-0. In the final match of the ODI series, India's bowlers put down the team's fears by stopping Sikandar Raza's run chase. Sikandar Raza was just about to get the water off Shubman Gill's maiden ODI century, where he was dismissed by Shardul Thakur and India managed to win the fight by 13 runs.
While India had already won the series by winning two matches, Shubman Gill saw the last match as an opportunity. Shubman Gill scored his maiden ODI century by scoring 130 runs in 97 balls studded with 15 fours and 1 six. Team India captain KL Rahul won the toss and decided to bat first. Shikhar Dhawan landed in Harare to open with KL Rahul. But KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan were dismissed for 30 and 40 respectively.
Shubman Gill, who became the highest run scorer of the match, took charge. Gill's maiden ODI century and his partner Ishan Kishan's scintillating half-century in 61 balls set Zimbabwe a target of 290 runs. The hosts' bowler Brad Evans took 5 wickets for just 54 runs.
Takudzwanashe Kaitano and Innocent Kaia, who came to open for Zimbabwe, disappointed the hosts and left for the pavilion after scoring 13 and 6 runs respectively. Zimbabwe's opening players may have been dismissed but Sikandar Raza's stormy century kept India's fears alive. Brad Evans, who excelled in both bowling and batting, partnered with Sikandar Raza for 104 runs. He scored 28 runs in 36 balls. Sikandar Raza scored 115 runs in 95 balls with 9 fours and 3 sixes.
Raza's escape from Kuldeep Yadav's stumping appeal for 23 off 31 balls managed to work the initial pressure from Zimbabwe. After which Sikandar Raza increased the acceleration of runs by hitting a six and a four in the very next over of Deepak Chahar. After Raza completed his 50 easily, in the last 10 overs, the team needed 95 runs to win, while some no balls were also done by Team India, due to which Team India started to slow down. Now the pressure started shifting from the host team to the visiting team.
Although Zimbabwe managed to take the match to the last over, Sikandar Raza's dismissal off Shardul Thakur led to the hosts' defeat. Team India won the series by winning the last match of the ODI series. Shubman Gill became the man of the match by scoring 130 runs and also won the man of the series title with 245 runs in all three matches.
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