Harare [Zimbabwe], July 23 : Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza criticised the pitch after his side suffered a seven-wicket defeat to India in the first T20I of the three-match series at the Harare Sports Club on Thursday, saying the conditions made batting difficult, particularly with the new ball.
Speaking during the post-match presentation, Raza said moisture on the surface remained for longer than expected and the movement off the deck made it challenging for the batters.
"Again, not up to the standard I think. In the morning, I think that moisture certainly played a part, but I didn't think it was going to play a part for that long. I thought it remained tough with the new ball," Raza said.
"Unfortunately, we didn't hit many boundaries up front as well, so the ball stayed new, and because of that, I felt the movement off the deck made batting even tougher," he added.
Comparing the conditions with Zimbabwe's recent ODI series against Bangladesh, Raza said the moisture had a longer impact during that series, while Thursday's pitch became easier to bat on when India began their chase.
"I thought during the Bangladesh ODI series, there was a lot of moisture, and it remained there for a long time. Whereas today, I thought the moisture was there for the first eight to ten or even 12 overs, and apart from that, when India came out to bat, the wicket was very true," he said.
Raza also expressed hope that the pitch would offer more balanced conditions in the next game, regardless of which team wins the toss.
"So, hopefully we get a better wicket for the next game so that even when we lose the toss, it doesn't play too big a part," he added.
Zimbabwe, after being reduced to 32/4, recovered to post 125/7, with Wesley Madhevere and Tadiwanashe Marumani playing key roles in rebuilding the innings.
Raza praised the duo for their partnership and said their effort was one of the positives for Zimbabwe despite the defeat.
"Yes, definitely. That's one of the positives. Marumani and Madhevere - it's a new role as well. I thought they batted really well to give us some sort of a respectable total. We'll take that as a positive, and hopefully the other guys can chip in as well so that we can put up a competitive total if we bat first," he said.
India chased down the 126-run target in 13.2 overs, with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashing a record-breaking 18-ball half-century, to take a 1-0 lead in the series.