Zimbabwe vs. India: Winners and Losers from 1st T20I

Zimbabwe continue their dismal run in their series against India, losing the first Twenty20 by a whopping 54 runs.

India notched up 178 in their 20 overs and Zimbabwe fell well short, managing just 124 in reply, with not a single batsman passing the 30-run mark. Zimbabwe cricket is very much in a slump.

We’ve picked the winners and losers from the first T20, add yours in the comments.

Winner: Chris Mpofu

Gemunu Amarasinghe/Associated Press

Chris Mpofu was one of the few Zim bowlers who did not take an absolute hammering on Friday. He finished with figures of 4-0-33-3, taking three of the five wickets Zimbabwe managed in their bowling innings.

Winner: Graeme Cremer

Eranga Jayawardena/Associated Press

Another Zimbabwe bowler who won on Friday, Graeme Cremer's economy rate of 5.00 with figures of 4-20-1 was exactly what Zim needed more of. Too many loose balls from the other bowlers meant India's rookie batsmen weren't troubled at all. Cremer was one of the few players who exerted pressure.

Loser: Zimbabwe's Batsmen

Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/Associated Press

It's perhaps a bit harsh to paint all of Zim's bowlers with one brush, but the fact that not a single player managed to get into the 30-run mark is shocking.

Hamilton Masakadza got close but gave it away by sending the ball straight to short fine leg at a time where his team really needed him to stick around. That just two of Zim's players managed to pass 20-runs is even more shocking than the first stat.

Winners: Axar Patel and Mohit Sharma

Rob Griffith/Associated Press

Unlike Zim, India had quite a few players who turned the screws. Mohit Sharma and Axar Patel were just two of them.

Both managed to keep their economy rates tidy, with Sharma's at 2.66 and Patel's at 4.25—as an added bonus, the latter picked up three wickets.

Loser: Zimbabwe’s Mojo

Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/Associated Press

It must be soul destroying to be a Zimbabwe cricketer at the moment. Absolutely nothing seems to be going their way.

During the one-day games, Zim often got into a strong position and threw it all away. While they were never in control of the T20, the fact that things have just gotten worse and worse since pushing India close in that first ODI cannot be good for their confidence.

Winner: Robin Uthappa

Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/Associated Press

Since first making his debut for India in 2006, Robin Uthappa has been in and out of the team.

He had an unremarkable Indian Premier League, but his unbeaten 39 off 35 on Friday would have been a big boost.

While those figures are comparatively slow, sometimes you just need to dig in and get your confidence back.

Loser: Zimbabwe's Inconsistency

Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi/Associated Press

We know that Zimbabwe are pretty consistent at losing, but the bowling was particularly inconsistent on Friday. There were 25 extras in the bowling innings with 13 of those coming in wides.

In T20, where the margins are so small, such bowling performances are simply not good enough.