Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza blamed the pitch after his team's seven-wicket loss to India in the opening T20I of the three-match series at the Harare Sports Club. India comfortably chased 126 in 13.2 overs, powered by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's record-breaking 18-ball half-century to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Raza felt the pitch favoured the team batting second and said Zimbabwe struggled because the ball continued to move for longer than expected. I thought it remained tough with the new ball," Raza said after the match. Comparing it with the recent Bangladesh ODI series, Raza said the wicket became much better to bat on during India's innings.