India secured a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Zimbabwe in the first Twenty20 International in Harare on Thursday. The win was led by 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who smashed his first international half-century to steer India toward the target. Zimbabwe finished with 125-7 after Mayank Yadav and Prince Yadav took two wickets each.
Sooryavanshi scored 50 off 18 balls, hitting four sixes over backward square, long-off, fine leg, and long-on. He was eventually out at 68-2 after top-edging an attempted cut at Richard Ngarava. The teenager, who replaced Sachin Tendulkar this month as the youngest player to represent India, returned to the same ground where he blasted 175 off 80 balls in the Under-19 World Cup final in February.
This success follows a modest output for Sooryavanshi in a T20 series in England, where he scored 14, 13, and 15 at a strike rate of 168 before being replaced for the final match of a series India lost 4-0. Meanwhile, the match marked Shreyas Iyer's first victory as captain in eight T20s, with India celebrating the win at 126-3.
Harare continues to be a happy hunting ground for the batting sensation. The second of three matches in the series is scheduled for Saturday.