ON EASY STREET

Chahar Shines In Comeback Game, Openers Put On Unbroken 192-Run Stand As India Thrash Listless Zimbabwe By 10 Wickets

Harare: Pacer Deepak Chahar made an impressive comeback to international cricket with an incisive spell and the opening batsmen maintained their consistency as India outclassed Zimbabwe by 10 wickets in the opening One-day International here on Thursday.

Donning the blue jersey for the first time in six months after a long injury layoff, Chahar hit the straps right away with figures of 3/27, which was instrumental in India restricting Zimbabwe to a sub-par 189 in just 40.3 overs.

With very little scoreboard pressure, it was a walk in the park for the Indians as the in-form opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan (81 not out) and Shubman Gill (82 not out) knocked off the target in just 30.5 overs.

With skipper KL Rahul foregoing his spot at the top of the order to let the in-form pair maintain its momentum, Dhawan and Gill scored their third half-centuries in last four games. Not to forget that it was also their third century-plus stand from the start of the West Indies series. Their lowest opening partnership had yielded 48 runs in second ODI in Caribbean.