Blessing Muzarabani to Brandon King, Pitched up and on middle and leg, Brandon King drills it to the left of mid on for one.
Blessing Muzarabani to Brandon King, BEAUTY! Blessing Muzarabani serves this full and in that channel outside off, hits the deck and nibbles away a shy bit. Brandon King, without moving his feet, pushes at it with hard hands, only to get beaten on the outside edge.
Blessing Muzarabani to Shai Hope, Lands this on a good length and on off, Shai Hope knocks it off the bottom half of the bat towards mid on. He calls late for the run but makes his ground with a dive to the other end. The fielder also missed his shy at the stumps.
Blessing Muzarabani to Brandon King, Back of a length and on off, Brandon King has a wild heave across the line. Gets it from the toe-end of the bat as the ball rolls to deep fine leg for a single.
Blessing Muzarabani to Brandon King, Right on the money! Blessing Muzarabani comes over the wicket, begins with a good-length delivery, on middle. Brandon King hops up and pushes it to short extra cover.
The in-form Blessing Muzarabani to share the new ball with Richard Ngarava.
Richard Ngarava to Brandon King, Pulls his length back a bit and around leg once more. Brandon King tries to nudge it off his hips but the ball goes off his thigh pad towards backward square leg. A leg bye taken. Just 4 runs off the first over!
Richard Ngarava to Brandon King, Goes fuller and on middle and leg, swings into the right-hander. Brandon King clips it away to short mid-wicket.
Richard Ngarava to Brandon King, Hits the length hard and around off, angling away this time. Brandon King dabs it down to point.
Richard Ngarava to Shai Hope, On a length and on off, Shai Hope rides the bounce and pats it in front of short cover for a quick run.
Richard Ngarava to Shai Hope, Touch fuller and on the leg stump line again, shaping in too. Shai Hope looks to glance but misses as the ball brushes the pads before going behind. Tadiwanashe Marumani, the keeper, dives to his left to collect it.
Richard Ngarava to Shai Hope, WIDE! Just errs in line and lands this on a good length, on middle and leg, shaping further down the leg side. Shai Hope fails to flick it away. Called a wide.
Richard Ngarava to Brandon King, Brandon King and West Indies are underway! Richard Ngarava starts with a back-of-a-length delivery, on off. King stays back and punches it to extra cover for a single.
Done and dusted with the pre-match formalities and it is now time to get the play underway. The umpires are out in the middle and we can see the players of Zimbabwe form a huddle before taking their places on the field. It will be the duo of Brandon King and the skipper, Shai Hope, to open the innings for West Indies. It will be King taking strike first up and Richard Ngarava is all set to get proceedings underway with his left-arm medium pacers. A slip in place as well, let's play...
Time for the anthems - The flags of both teams are unfurled and the two sets of players walk out to the middle along with their mascots. They will line up for their respective anthems. First, it will be the cricketing anthem of the West Indies, followed by the national anthem of Zimbabwe.
PITCH REPORT - Former Windies leggie, Samuel Badree, is inspecting the deck. He starts by saying that things have cooled down considerably after a simmering day. Adds that Wankhede is generally a high-scoring venue, where we see lots of sixes. Adds that if you're bowling from the Press Box End, it is a 74-meter hit straight and the square boundaries are 61 and 67 meters respectively. Former Indian wicket-keeper, Dinesh Karthik, joins him and says that it is a red soil pitch, which means that the bounce will be truer and mentions that Zimbabwe used the bounce as an ally in Colombo, but the smaller dimensions might come into play as well and feels that overall it is a dry surface.
The skipper of West Indies - Shai Hope says they would have bowled first as well on this track. Adds that they have got a good history behind them at the Wankhede, but stresses that they have to play well on the given day. Says that regardless of the records, he highlights the importance of turning up and playing the right brand of cricket when it counts. Informs that they are going in with one change in the XI as Romario Shepherd comes in for Roston Chase.
The captain of Zimbabwe - Sikandar Raza says that, looking at the games that have been played in Mumbai and the general history, it is a ground that favors the chasing side and they want their pacers to make an impact early. On playing a T20I for the first time ever at this venue, Raza mentions that they want to be the country that has played here once and won. Informs that Richard Ngarava has been declared fit, so he comes in for Welligton Masakadza. Ends by saying that they want to play good cricket, and hopefully it turns into a win.
West Indies (Playing XI) - Brandon King, Shai Hope (C/WK), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd (In place of Roston Chase), Matthew Forde, Gudakesh Motie, Akeal Hosein, Shamar Joseph.
Zimbabwe (Playing XI) - Brian Bennett, Tadiwanashe Marumani (WK), Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza (C), Ryan Burl, Tony Munyonga, Tashinga Musekiwa, Brad Evans, Graeme Cremer, Richard Ngarava (In place of Wellington Masakadza), Blessing Muzarabani.