'the wheels came off today': Sikandar Raza blames openers and fielders after Zimbabwe's second consecutive loss against India

Sikandar Raza-led Zimbabwe cricket team suffered a big 23-run loss against Shubman Gill's Indian Cricket team in the third T20I of the five-match T20I series at the Harare Sports Club in Harare, on July 10 (Wednesday). The Men in Blue have gained a 2-1 lead in the series after a loss in the first one. The Zimbabwe captain was disappointed after the consecutive losses and blamed fielders and openers for their poor performances.

Sikandar Raza on second consecutive losses

The Zimbabwe captain said they are proud of their fielding but it once again let them down as the wheels came off today and they gave away 20 extra runs. He also called out the openers for not being able to give them good starts.

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“I think it's the fielding again, we are proud of our fielding but the wheels came off today, we gave away 20 extra runs and we lost by 23 runs. We still have problems at the top but I have utmost faith in them that they will come good some time. We have tried 15 different partners in the last year or so, club has revived, it's time that our players including myself take up the responsibility. You cannot fix a problem by creating another problem, we have picked 3 openers for a reason. The openers that have been picked up should be given a run. (On Muzarabani) We have to stop talking about him because he has been outstanding, sometimes the rewards don't come but in the long run the rewards do come,” said Sikandar Raza in the post-match presentation.

India gain 2-1 lead over Zimbabwe

India made a remarkable comeback after losing the opening match of the series. They won back-to-back games and have now gone from trailing 0-1 to leading 2-1. India batting first posted 182/4 in 20 overs with the help of a fifty from Shubman Gill and a great knock from Ruturaj Gaikwad. The Indian captain scored 66 runs off 49 balls which also included seven fours and three sixes. The second-highest scorer was Gaikwad with 49 off 28 balls.

Then in the bowling, Washington Sundar's three-fer stole the show as he only gave away 15 runs in his four-over spell. He did not allow the ZIM batters to score freely which resulted in their loss eventually. Apart from his Avesh Khan picked 2 wickets and Khaleel Ahmed settled with one wicket. They managed to restrict ZIM to 159/6 and won the match by 23 runs.

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