ZIM vs IND: Deepak Chahar stars on return; Dhawan, Gill polish off small target

Pacer Deepak Chahar made an impressive comeback to international cricket with an incisive spell and openers maintained their consistency as India outclassed Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in the opening One Day International on ThursdayDonning the blue jersey for the first time in six months after a long injury layoff Chahar hit the straps right away with figures of 327 which was instrumental in India restricting Zimbabwe to a subpar 189 in just 403 oversWith very little scoreboard pressure it was a walk in the park for the Indians as the inform opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan 81 not out and Shubman Gill 82 not out knocked off the target in just 305 oversWith skipper KL Rahul foregoing his spot at the top of the order to let the inform pair maintain its momentum Dhawan and Gill scored their third halfcenturies in last four games Not to forget that it was also their third centuryplus stand from the start of the West Indies series Their lowest opening partnership had yielded 48 runs in second ODI in CaribbeanOn a track that had something for the bowlers the Indian openers did start in a sedate fashion but with very little on the board it did not take them much time to accelerateDhawan played his signature square cuts off seamers and lofted shots off the slow bowlers during his 113ball knock while Gill played within himself for the first 30 deliveries before starting to chance his arms and surpassed his senior partner in terms of strikerate facing only 72 ballsHe played some eyecatching strokes on either side of the wicket including a huge six over deep midwicket off Wessly MadhevereBetween them they hit 19 boundaries in allChahar sets up win on returnIt didnt take long for Chahar to find his rhythm on a Harare Sports Club track that offered steep bounce The balmy morning conditions aided quality swing bowlingHe was well supported by Mohammed Siraj 136 who worked up brisk pace while bowling the ideal Test match lengthAlso Read Virat Kohli reflects on his mental health says he felt alone in a room full of peoplePrasidh Krishna 350 and Axar Patel 324 also got their share of middle and lowerorder victims while Kuldeep Yadav 036 was restrictive despite going wicketlessIt was the record ninthwicket stand of 70 runs between Brad Evans 33 and Richard Ngarava 32 that took Zimbabwe close to the 200run markNone of the Zimbabwe batters looked comfortable during those opening overs as Chahar got a lot of deliveries to dart back late while some straightened after pitchingOpener Innocent Kaia 4 off 20 balls saw a ball climb up from back of length and Sanju Samson caught it on second attemptHis lefthanded partner Tadiwanashe Marumani 8 off 22 balls drove a fullerlength delivery that swung late and Samson had an easy catchChahars best delivery was the one that got Wessly Medhevere 5 which seemed like drifting on pads but swung away late squaring up the righthander who was found plumb infrontOnce Siraj had Sean Williams caught at first slip by Shikhar Dhawan there wasnt much resistance left in the Zimbabwean batting although skipper Regis Chakabva 35 off 51 balls tried to put up a brief fight before Axar castled himJust at the start of his spell Chahar was struggling a bit with his runup but once he got his first wicket it seemed that he could take wicket with every delivery he bowledThe banana inswing was back and more importantly he was getting to move the ball late causing a lot of doubt in batters mindWhile Chahar has been kept on standby for the Asia Cup with Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the first 15 the tables could well turn once the Indian team touches base in Australia This is because there will be at least one spinner less in the final composition of the squad as sides wont require four spinners for pitches Down UnderBrief Scores Zimbabwe 189 all out in 403 overs Regis Chakabva 35 Richard Ngarava 34 Deepak Chahar 327 Prasidh Krishna 350 Axar Patel 324India 192 for no loss in 305 overs Shubman Gill 82 not out Shikhar Dhawan 81 not outThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever