Harare: Ishan Kishan and Tilak Verma hit half-centuries to beat teenage star Vaibhav Suriyavanshi as India beat Zimbabwe by 90 runs.
Wicketkeeper Kishan’s 44-ball 81 and Verma’s unbeaten 29-ball 60 gave the tourists a 2-0 lead at Harare Sports Club. The final will be held on Sunday.
A second win in three days was a turning point for India, who arrived in South Africa after back-to-back defeats in Ireland and England.
15-year-old batsman Suriyavanshi, who scored his maiden T20I half-century here on Thursday, scored 20 runs.
Batting, India posted 219/5 with Kishan and Verma tormenting the Zimbabwean bowlers. In reply the team were all out for 129 runs.
Batting at No.3, Kishan added 66 runs for the third wicket with captain Shreyas Iyer (25) and 95 runs for the fourth wicket with Verma.
Kishan hit two sixes and nine fours before Newman sliced Nyamhuri’s delivery outside the off-stump. Brian Bennett stepped forward from the deep to pull off an excellent catch.
Like Kishan, who was part of the team that won the 2026 T20I World Cup, Verma also hit three sixes and five fours in his unbeaten innings.
Suriyawanshi hit a nine-ball six and 3 fours before being caught by Blessing Mussarabani at mid-on off Richard Ngarawa’s delivery.
Zimbabwe are 10 places below India in the World T20I rankings and have always struggled, with only opener Bennett (32) and wicketkeeper Tadiwanashe Marumani (24) enjoying some batting success.
Yash Thakur took his maiden T20I wicket by dismissing Bennett. His delivery outside off was pushed behind the stumps and Kishan took a simple catch.
Left-arm spinner Abhishek Sharma (3-17), another 2026 T20I World Cup winner, is the most successful Indian bowler.