Mayank, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi help India end T20I losing streak

On a day another 150kph bowler made his debut, comeback man Mayank Yadav turned on the heat in Harare, shaking up Zimbabwe with pace and stiff bounce.

For India's quicks, who ate the hard-length channel, a cracker from the first ball squared Brian Bennett after he had jumped off length. India's batting barely posed a challenge for Zimbabwe's top order, which was exposed and could only manage 125/7.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi cracked open the chase with a 19-ball fifty, beating Sachin Tendulkar's record to become the youngest from a Full Member nation to hit his maiden men's international fifty. It broke a short sequence of low scores in the India kit so far, on the very ground he smashed an 80-ball 175 in the U19 World Cup final just five months ago.

Hoping to end their winless streak under Shreyas Iyer, India fielded three seamers, handing a debut to Ashok Sharma, the tall quick from Rajasthan, who gained attention with his pace in the IPL this year. With Prince Yadav as the third quick, India stifled the hosts in the Powerplay, giving away just 26 runs. Deliveries pinged and lifted off the surface, beating the bat: Sikandar Raza later said the pitch was "not up to standard".

When Shivam Dube took out Raza - caught on the longer boundary side - they had been laid flat on the Harare pitch at 37/4.

Ryan Burl then dug in, facing nearly 30 percent of the balls, but eventually succumbed as the paucity of boundaries hit hard. It resulted in Ravi Bishnoi's sole scalp and the game's only wicket for a spinner. Placed at 64/4 in 13 overs, Zimbabwe hadn't gathered any momentum thus far.

Wessly Madhevere, who had been in the T20I setup for over a year, was left to provide resistance. Utilizing his pace rather than forcing shots, he scored a few fours against Ashok, who was making his debut, probably served as a lesson for his teammates. A ramp over Ishan Kishan's head, and a dab to the third-man fence showed that he read the surface much better. Next over, he muscled Bishnoi for a six. Strangled until that point, the hosts could finally breathe.

His 58-run stand with Tadiwanashe Marumani gave the bowlers something to bowl at. But that was quickly neutralised by Sooryavanshi, and his insatiable need to tear into attacks.

When he swivel-pulled Richard Ngarava for a six to the long boundary in the second over, the chaos began, with the ball carrying enough speed to even cross the grass embankments. Two balls later, he casually swatted it off his front foot over long-off. Abhishek Sharma, silent at the other end, was sucked into a dismissal by a big shot, but Sooryavanshi could bother little.

Brad Evans could only watch as an audacious whip, played by the teenager on one knee, sailed to the long-leg fence. The run-machine had warmed up. There was little they could do.

Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani, pillars of Zimbabwe's pace attack, could not mimic any of the incisiveness that the Indian bowlers showed. And it had a lot to do with Sooryavanshi reading lengths early and backing his strokes, countering the short and wide angles to devastating effect.

Sooryavanshi had checked off a list of records when he was let go in the seventh over. By then, Ishan Kishan had also settled in, taking on Newman Nyamhuri with three fours in four balls. It left Zimbabwe with little to play with.

Iyer joined Kishan in savoring the remainder of the runs after arriving without any pressure from the scoreboard. When Kishan left against the flow of play, the ball stopped slightly on the surface, revealing the variable bounce.

By the 14th over, Iyer was walking back with his first win in eight attempts, also snapping India's longest winless streak in T20Is.

Prince Yadav later commented, "The ball was flying off good length at the start, and we kept hold on those lines." Mayank Yadav, the Player of the Match, concurred, "The ball was seaming a lot."