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Shubman Gill scored an excellent 130 off 97 balls, his maiden ODI ton, as India put up 289 for eight, batting first in the third ODI against Zimbabwe in Harare on Monday (August 22). Coming to bat at No. 3, the youngster slammed 15 fours and a six in a thoroughly dominating display.
Gill and Ishan Kishan (50 off 61) added 140 for the third wicket in quick time. While Gill continued to hit boundaries at will, Kishan also grew in confidence as his innings progressed.
The former eased to his fifty with a single off Sikandar Raza in the 34th over. The right-handed batter looked hungry for a lot more as he kept punishing loose balls from the Zimbabwean bowlers. At the other end, Kishan also brought up his second ODI fifty without much trouble.
The partnership ended in rather bizarre fashion as Kishan was run out immediately after reaching his half-century. Brad Evans struck Gill on the pads and Zimbabwe appealed for an lbw. The batter was seemingly worried about the appeal, but Kishan was halfway down, looking for a quick single.
With no response, the southpaw was stranded and run out. But since Zimbabwe went for a DRS against Gill, Kishan was asked to stay. Once UltraEdge confirmed an edge, though, Kishan had to walk back to the pavilion.
In the same over, Deepak Hooda (one) was cleaned up by a delivery that nipped back in sharply and sneaked through the gap between bat and pad. In the next over, Gill reached his maiden ODI century off only 82 balls by punching a good length delivery from Victor Nyauchi to sweeper cover for a single.
Gill could have been dismissed on 111, but was dropped at short fine-leg off Luke Jongwe’s bowling. To add insult to injury, Sanju Samson clobbered the next two deliveries for sixes. Samson’s cameo ended on 15 off 13 as he flicked the next ball to deep square leg.
Gill continued to go on the attack even as Axar Patel perished to Nyauchi for one. His brilliant innings ended on 130 at the start of the last over as he miscued Evans to long-off. The bowler completed a five-wicket haul (5/54) when he dismissed Shardul Thakur for nine.
Dhawan, Rahul begin slowly before Gill explodes
India batted first after winning the toss and their openers added 63, but they took up 15 overs for the same. Shikhar Dhawan, batting with Thakur’s jersey, began by crunching two boundaries off Richard Ngarava in the first over of the match. He could have been dismissed in the seventh over, but was dropped at backward point off Ngarava’s bowling.
At the other end, Rahul was content playing slowly as his chief objective was to spend some time at the crease. He did pull a short ball from Evans for a maximum over deep backward square leg, but perished in the same over. Rahul was bowled for 30 off 46, chopping a length ball back onto the stumps.
Dhawan was looking good for another big score. However, on 40 off 68, he was caught at covers off a leading edge. Evans was the successful bowler once again. Gill then went berserk as Zimbabwe had no answer to his exploits.
