Avesh Khan headlined an impressive bowling display after Abhishek Sharma’s rollicking 46-ball 100 as the Indian cricket team thumped Zimbabwe by 100 runs in the second T20 match at Harare on Sunday.
Avesh, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, bowled an excellent spell of 3/15 in three overs as Zimbabwe folded out for 134 in response to India’s gargantuan first-innings total of 234/2.
Avesh picked up two wickets in his first over, the fourth of the innings, to reduce Zimbabwe to 46/4. First, he sent back Dion Myers for a first-ball duck, with Rinku Singh making no mistake at short cover.
The pacer then accounted for the crucial wicket of Sikandar Raza in the last ball of the same over, catching the Zimbabwe skipper by surprise with a bouncer. Raza gloved the ball while taking evasive action and Dhruv Jurel pouched an easy catch.
The 27-year-old Avesh got his third wicket in the 18th over dismissing Blessing Muzarabani with Washington Sundar taking a skier at mid-on as Zimbabwe slid to 123/9. Eventually, India bowled out Zimbabwe to pocket the contest with eight balls to spare.
Avesh Khan was the top wicket-taker for the Royals in IPL 2024 with 19 wickets from 15 innings at an impressive strike rate of 17.31.
The Men in Blue squared the five-match series 1-1, after their 13-run loss in the first T20 at the same venue a day ago. India will face Zimbabwe in the third T20 at Harare on Wednesday.
