India vs Zimbabwe 1st T20I match: India, led by Shubman Gill, will clash with Zimbabwe, captained by Sikandar Raza, on July 6. India, the world champion in T20I cricket, will play the first match against Zimbabwe on July 6. The T20I series, consisting 5 matches between the two teams, is the first one after India became the world champions on June 29.
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India and Zimbabwe have played 8 T20I matches against each other. India have won 6 of those while Zimbabwe have won twice. In the last 5 matches played between the two, India have won thrice and Zimbabwe twice.
India played 2 T20 matches with Zimbabwe in 2010 and won both, by 6 wickets and by 7 wickets, respectively. India’s third win came in 2015 when the Men in Blue won by 54 runs. India, however, lost the next 2 matches, by 10 runs and by 2 runs, respectively.
India won by 3 runs in 2016. Then, in 2022, India defeated the southern African team by 71 runs. Rohit Sharma was the captain while Suryakumar Yadav (61 off 25 balls) was awarded the Player of the Match.
India have played 7 out of 8 T20I matches against Zimbabwe in Harare. It is the same venue where India will play the 1st T20I match as defending world champions. The Harare Sports Club, also known as Salisbury Sports Club, has hosted 41 T20I matches so far.
At this venue, teams batting first won 23 times. The average first innings score is 156/7 while the average score for the second innings is 139/6. The highest team score is Australia's 229/2 against Zimbabwe in 2018. The lowest is Zimbabwe's 90 against Afghanistan in 2022.
The temperature in Harare on July 6 evening will be around 11 degrees, as per AccuWeather. Since Zimbabwe is situated in the southern hemisphere, it is winter in June, July and August. There’s no chance of rain.
The entire Indian team comprises some of the finest performers in IPL 2024. Each one of them is expected to perform well. However, more focus will be on captain Shubman Gill and Rinku Singh. They travelled with the Indian team as reserves for the T20 World Cup 2024 but never had a chance to play.
For Zimbabwe, all-rounder Sikandar Raza will be in focus. The player of Pakistani origin has scored 1,947 runs in 86 T20I matches. In the last one year, the Zimbabwe captain is the top run-scorer for his team with 688 runs. During the same period, he is also the second-highest wicket-taker with 22 wickets.
The 1st T20I match will be played on July 6 whereas the match is scheduled to start at 4:30 PM (India time). Sony Sports Network will broadcast it live on TV. The online live-streaming will be shown on the SonyLIV app.
