HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hit his second international half-century for India as Zimbabwe lost the third and final Twenty20 match by 35 runs on Sunday and India swept the series 3-0.
On a slow surface, opener Sooryavanshi scored 81 runs off 49 balls with four sixes and eight fours as India reached 192-5 in 20 overs.
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Zimbabwe's fielder Wessly Madhevere takes a catch during the third T20 cricket match between Zimbabwe and India in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Wonder Mashura)
India's bowler Yash Thakur, right, celebrates with teammate Tilak Varma, after taking a wicket during the third T20 cricket match between Zimbabwe and India in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Wonder Mashura)
Zimbabwe's batsman Ryan Burl raises his bat after scoring 50 runs during the third T20 cricket match between Zimbabwe and India in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Wonder Mashura)
India's captain Shreyas Iyer, right, plays a shot as Zimbabwe's wicketkeeper Tadiwanashe Marumani during the third T20 cricket match between Zimbabwe and India in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Wonder Mashura)
India's batsman Vaibhav Sooryavanshi plays a shot during the third T20 cricket match between Zimbabwe and India in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Wonder Mashura)
In reply, Zimbabwe was restricted to 157-7 with Ryan Burl scoring 54 not out off 43 balls. Pacer Mayank Yadav took 3-29 in four overs.
India had already clinched the series with a 90-run victory on Saturday. It won the first T20 on Thursday by seven wickets, when Sooryavanshi smashed 50 off 18 balls.
Opting to bat first, India lost Abhishek Sharma for two runs off Blessing Muzarabani. Sooryavanshi and Ishan Kishan (29) then added 75 off 50 balls. India scored 64-1 in the powerplay.
Sooryavanshi's second 50 came off 31 balls this time. He hit another two sixes after crossing the 50-mark and looked set for a maiden hundred, before holing out off Wessly Madhevere.
Sooryavanshi was named player of the series with 151 runs in three innings.
“I try to replicate what I do in training," he said. "I had good preparation time after the England tour and I am glad to score these runs for the team, and contribute to the series win. It was my dream to do it for India."
Shreyas Iyer scored 27, with Rinku Singh providing a final flourish with 25 off 14 balls including two fours and a six.
In reply, Zimbabwe lost Brian Bennett off the first ball of the innings against Mayank Yadav.
Ben Curran (20) and Dion Myers (19) added 34 runs for the second wicket, but Zimbabwe lost a couple of quick wickets, including skipper Sikandar Raza. Yash Thakur (2-45) dismissed him for a golden duck with a brilliant one-handed catch.
Burl held the Zimbabwe innings together, with five fours, and scored 50 off 42 balls. He added 60 off 50 balls with Madhevere (28).
India dropped five catches but Zimbabwe was outplayed with both bat and ball.
Sooryavanshi replaced Sachin Tendulkar this month as the youngest player to represent India but his output in a T20 series in England was modest: 14, 13, 15 at a strike rate of 168. He was replaced for the last match and India lost the series 4-0.
The selectors — successfully — hoped Sooryavanshi would thrive in a low-key series at the same cricket ground where he blasted 175 off 80 balls against England in February in the final of the Under-19 World Cup.
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Zimbabwe's fielder Wessly Madhevere takes a catch during the third T20 cricket match between Zimbabwe and India in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Wonder Mashura)
India's bowler Yash Thakur, right, celebrates with teammate Tilak Varma, after taking a wicket during the third T20 cricket match between Zimbabwe and India in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Wonder Mashura)
Zimbabwe's batsman Ryan Burl raises his bat after scoring 50 runs during the third T20 cricket match between Zimbabwe and India in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Wonder Mashura)
India's captain Shreyas Iyer, right, plays a shot as Zimbabwe's wicketkeeper Tadiwanashe Marumani during the third T20 cricket match between Zimbabwe and India in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Wonder Mashura)
India's batsman Vaibhav Sooryavanshi plays a shot during the third T20 cricket match between Zimbabwe and India in Harare, Zimbabwe, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Wonder Mashura)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Two mosques in the Israeli-occupied West Bank were set on fire overnight in an apparent Israeli settler attack, officials said Sunday, after a spate of deadly violence that killed four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers.
Palestinians and the Israeli opposition accuse Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-line government of turning a blind eye to attacks by settlers against Palestinians, which threaten to ignite widespread violence across the territory.
Israeli soldiers and police fanned out across the West Bank after the attack, closing off major roads and blocking access to a hospital where it said two militants were hiding. Israel also arrested more than 70 Palestinians over the weekend as they attempted to contain the escalating violence.
The mosques, in the villages of Qusra and Kour in the northern West Bank, suffered extensive damage in the fires.
In Qusra, the attackers spray-painted “revenge Benayahu,” referring to one of the Israeli soldiers killed on Friday, and “the land of Israel is redeemed with blood.” The soldier lived in a nearby settlement.
Ahmed Abu Mahmoud, 64, who lives next to the Qusra mosque, said he heard noises at 3 a.m. and discovered the mosque had been set on fire. The fire was too large for him to fight on his own, so he called for help.
“The military arrived here, saw with their own eyes and then left,” Mahmoud said.
Security footage in Kour obtained by The Associated Press showed three people dressed in civilian clothes setting off a large explosion in the entrance of the mosque in the middle of the night.
On Sunday, residents held prayers despite damage to the entrance.
Israel's military said it was working with police to investigate the mosque attack.
“The security forces strongly condemn incidents of this kind, including harm to religious sites, and will continue to act decisively to maintain security and public order in the area,” it said.
The Israeli army often announces investigations into violence against Palestinians but rarely makes arrests or prosecutes settlers involved in violence.
The military also reported it had sealed the homes of two Palestinian militants suspected of killing the soldiers in preparation for their demolition. Israel often demolishes the homes of attackers, claiming it deters future attacks.
On Sunday, Netanyahu said troops entered villages across the West Bank to seize weapons and make arrests. “We are also prepared to operate on a broader scale against the terrorist nests,” he said.
The exact circumstances of Friday’s deadly incidents remained unclear, but Israeli media reports and interviews with local Palestinian officials said they were sparked after a group of settlers entered the village of Tell and were confronted by residents who were fearful of an attack.
According to the Israeli military, one of the Palestinians took one of the settlers’ weapons and fired on the group, killing Benayahu Mellet, 32, a security guard from a nearby settlement.
Palestinians and human rights groups have increasingly documented armed Israeli settlers entering villages in the area. Livestock theft, arson and the defacement of mosques are routinely reported.
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Fahmy urged U.S. President Donald Trump to restrain “the Israeli government’s extremist ambitions,” including its implementing of a “de facto annexation in the West Bank."
He called on Trump to confront Netanyahu ahead of their meeting in the United States this week.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent letters to Arab and other allies, including the European Union, urging them to pressure Israel to stop settler violence in the West Bank, which he described as a systemic Israeli policy and a dangerous escalation, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported. The Palestinian Authority is the internationally recognized representative of the Palestinian people.
Pope Leo XIV appealed for peace in the Middle East at the end of his weekly Sunday prayer, saying that “I am following with apprehension the persistence and escalation of violence in the Holy Land, of which recently many civilians in the West Bank and Gaza have also been victims.”
He appealed for a “return to negotiating a just political solution.”
According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, 87 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank this year, including 21 by Israeli settlers. Three Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinian militants in 2026, including the two soldiers on Friday.
More than 700,000 Israeli settlers live in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in 1967 and sought by the Palestinians for a future independent state. The international community overwhelmingly considers Israeli settlements be illegal and obstacles to peace.
Associated Press writer Samy Magdy in Cairo contributed to this report.
Children stand outside a mosque that was burned during an attack by Israeli settlers early in the morning in the West Bank village of Qusra, Sunday, July 26, 2026, as on its wall a Hebrew graffiti reads "Revenge Benayahu", referring to an Israeli settler killed during clashes with Palestinians in the village of Tell, last Friday. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli soldiers operate in the West Bank Palestinians city of Nablus, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammad)
Israeli soldiers operate in the West Bank Palestinians city of Nablus, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Majdi Mohammad)
Children stand outside a mosque that was burned during an attack by Israeli settlers early in the morning in the West Bank village of Qusra, Sunday, July 26, 2026, as on its wall a Hebrew graffiti reads "Revenge Benayahu", referring to an Israeli settler killed during clashes with Palestinians in the village of Tell, last Friday. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
A Palestinian man prays inside a mosque that was burned during an attack by Israeli settlers early in the morning in the West Bank village of Qusra, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
