Fifteen-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi struck his second fifty in three innings as India sealed a 3-0 T20I sweep of Zimbabwe to knock England off top spot in the rankings.
Sooryavanshi’s 81 from 49 balls in Harare featured four sixes and eight fours and followed his maiden half-century for his country – a 19-ball 50 – in Thursday’s series opener at the same venue.
The left-hander – who lit up the 2026 IPL with 776 runs in 16 matches for Rajasthan Royals at a remarkable strike-rate of 237.30 – first played senior cricket for India during the recent 4-0 T20 thrashing in England, registering scores of 14, 13 and 15.
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Sooryavanshi was twice dismissed by Jofra during India’s 4-0 T20 drubbing in England, including for 15 in the penultimate match in Bristol
India’s heavy defeat in the UK had seen Harry Brook’s men overtake them as the No 1 T20I team before they returned to the summit after seizing a 2-0 lead against Zimbabwe.
They would have slipped back to second had they lost the finale but ran out 35-run winners despite some sloppy fielding.
Sooryavanhsi’s innings – which ended when he was superbly caught by a diving Brad Evans – propelled Shreyas Iyer’s side to 192-5 and Zimbabwe could only make 157-7 in reply, with Ryan Burl (54no off 43) top-scoring.
Sooryavanshi (left) shared half-century stands with Ishan Kishan (right) and India captain Shreyas Iyer on Sunday
India are next in action in August as they visit Sri Lanka for a two-match Test series, before returning to white-ball cricket across September and October when they host West Indies for three one-day internationals and five T20 internationals.
England will look to move back top of the T20I standings when they welcome Sri Lanka for three fixtures from September 15.
The series opener is at the Utilita Bowl in Southampton before further games at Sophia Gardens in Cardiff (September 17) and Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester (September 19) ahead of a three-match ODI series between the sides.
Like India, England also play Test cricket next, with the first of three red-ball clashes against Pakistan starting at Headingley on August 19, live on Sky Sports and contract-free with NOW.
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