India overpowered hosts Zimbabwe again by five wickets on Saturday (August 20) in the second match of the ODI series to take an unassailable 2-0 lead with one more match left to go on Monday.
KL Rahul won his second toss in a row and once again opted to bowl first, as is usually the case in Harare with the conditions favoring the chasing team. Deepak Chahar was replaced by Shardul Thakur after the former delivered a Player-of-the-Match performance of 3/27 in the previous match.
Shardul delivered for the team as well in his place picking up 3/38 as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 161 in 38.1 overs. Sean Williams (42) and Ryan Burl (39*) put up a fight, but none of the remaining batters could cross 16. Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akshar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Deepak Chahar took one wicket each for India.
WATCH – Sanju Samson pulls off a one-handed stunner behind the stumps in 2nd ODI
Indian captain KL Rahul promoted himself to open with Shikhar Dhawan to get some batting practice, but the move backfired as he fell for just 1. Dhawan (33) and Shubman Gill (33) carried on their good form but fell playing aggressive shots. Ishan Kishan could manage just 6 as India were in a bit of bother at 97/4 after 14 overs.
Deepak Hooda (25), Sanju Samson (43*) and Akshar Patel (6*) ensured there were no further hiccups as India clinched the win comfortably by five wickets with 24.2 overs to spare.
Samson, who won his first Player-of-the-Match award in international cricket, enjoyed a lot of crowd support as usual from the Indian fans at the ground in Harare.
The fans chanted 'Sanju, Sanju' hoping to see him finish the match with a six, which the wicketkeeper-batter accomplished in style. Samson's IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals shared a clip of the final moments of the contest and the six.
