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Shreyas Iyer finally had some kind of reason to smile after India beat Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the first T20I, at Harare Sports Club on Wednesday. The win stopped India’s seven match winless spell in T20Is, and it also gave Iyer his first win as India’s T20I captain, which is big.

 

The Indian skipper had gone through seven games without a victory, after winning every toss. That stretch matched the record for longest run of winning the toss but still not managing a T20I win as captain. But the wait, it ended in Harare, as India chased down 126 with 40 balls still left, pretty comfortably.

 

Longest streak of winning the toss but going winless as captain in T20Is

 

Captain	Team	Period	Matches
Prakash Mishra	Bulgaria	2021	7
Shreyas Iyer	India	2026	7 (streak ended)
Hernan Fennell	Argentina	2021-2023	6

 

 

Longest winless streaks for India in T20Is

 

Streak	Period	Record
7 matches	June 2026 - July 2026	6 defeats, 1 no result (ended vs Zimbabwe)
4 matches	June 2009 - December 2009	4 defeats
4 matches	July 2021 - October 2021	4 defeats

 

 

Iyer's wait ends with an easy Indian victory

 

This result mattered, for both Iyer and the Indian team. India had been stumbling badly in the last weeks, losing six matches while one game ended without a result. People were questioning the team’s rhythm , and Iyer’s captaincy was also taking heat after seven matches without a win, kinda relentless.

 

Then, things shifted against Zimbabwe. India stayed composed the whole way through the chase and finished the target with no real late mess. The key winning moment came in the 14th over when Tilak Varma coaxed Richard Ngarava for a single, through mid wicket, and that moment handed Iyer his first T20I captaincy win, in his eighth match.

 

The same win also put a full stop to India’s longest-ever winless run in T20I cricket.

 

Also Read | ZIM vs IND: 15-Year-Old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Creates Record No Batter Has Ever Achieved

 

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi leads the chase after bowlers did their job

 

Zimbabwe did post a decent enough total, but India made the chase look easy. India finished on 126/3 in only 13.2 overs, to wrap up a seven wicket win.

 

Abhishek Sharma, he managed just one run, before Blessing Muzarabani dismissed him. Then the young opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi changed the whole mood with a lively innings of 50 from just 19 balls. He smashed four fours and four sixes , and his strike rate stayed over 260, before Richard Ngarava finally removed him.

 

Ishan Kishan kept going with 35 off 24 balls, including three fours and two sixes. Captain Shreyas Iyer stayed unbeaten on 28 off 24 deliveries, and he steered the chase till the end. Tilak Varma was also not out on 6 from five balls, and India crossed the line without much tension.

 

For Zimbabwe, Blessing Muzarabani was the standout bowler with 2 wickets for 26 runs. Richard Ngarava picked up one wicket too. Brad Evans, Newman Nyamhuri, and Sikandar Raza couldn’t quite slow down India’s strong batting display.

 

The smooth chase and Iyer’s calm unbeaten finish meant India began the Zimbabwe series with confidence. Even more than that, the captain finally ended that annoying record, and celebrated his first T20I win after eight matches in charge. The victory also ended India’s rough patch in the format, and gave the visitors a perfect start for the three match series.