AUSTRALIA: An all-round performance by India saw the team defeat Zimbabwe by 71 runs in the final Super-12 match at Adelaide. Suryakumar Yadav’s blazing half-century laid the platform for the win before the bowlers bundled Zimbabwe out for 115 with 16 balls to spare.
India Innings:
India started with KL Rahul (51 off 35 balls) playing out a maiden first over by Ngarava (44/1). However, in the coming couple of overs, Rahul and Rohit Sharma (15 off 13 balls) broke the shackles and scored runs in boundaries. Rahul pulled Ngarava into the stands in the third over for a six.
Blessing Muzarabani (50/1) broke the 27-run opening stand by dismissing Rohit Sharma in the fourth over. The new man in, Virat Kohli (26 off 25 balls), began his account with a boundary. The duo took 10 runs in the sixth over, taking India to 46/1 after the powerplay.
Kohli and Rahul put together a quickfire 60-run partnership for the second wicket. Sean Williams (9/2) got the crucial wicket of Kohli. The ball’s bounce troubled Kohli as he top-edged the shot to Ryan Burl at long-off.
KL Rahul brought up his half-century with a six off Sikandar Raza (18/1) in the thirteenth over. He departed in the next delivery, caught at long-off by Masakadza. Rishabh Pant (3 off 5 balls) didn’t last long, holing out to Ryan Burl at wide long-on off Sean Williams.
Suryakumar Yadav (61* off 25 balls) and Hardik Pandya (18 off 18 balls) took the Zimbabwe bowling to the cleaners, hitting boundaries at will. The batsmen stitched together a 65-run partnership. It ended when Hardik holed out to Muzarabani off the bowling of Ngarava in the final over.
Suryakumar Yadav hit two towering sixes and a boundary in the last four deliveries of the final over to push India to 186/5 in twenty overs and finishing his half-century off just 23 deliveries in the process.
Zimbabwe Innings:
Zimbabwe was off to a disastrous start. Bhuvneshwar Kumar (11/1) started the proceedings with a maiden wicket over. He dismissed Wesley Madhevere for a golden duck. Regis Chakabva (0 off 6) was castled in the next over by Arshdeep Singh (9/1).
The pace duo of Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep kept a tight line as Zimbabwe batsmen struggled to get going. Mohammed Shami (14/2) dismissed Sean Williams (11 off 18 balls) in the final delivery of the powerplay as Zimbabwe struggled to 37/3.
Hardik Pandya (16/2) caught Craig Ervine (13 off 15 balls) off his own bowling. Pandya induced a leading edge from Ervine, which popped up in the air. Pandya made the catch difficult for himself but latched onto the ball at the end. Shami struck again in his next over, catching Tony Munyonga (5 off 4 balls) plumb in front of the wickets.
With half the team back in the hut, Zimbabwe was down and out of the match. However, a 60-run stand for the sixth wicket between Ryan Burl (35 off 22 balls) and Sikandar Raza (34 off 24 balls) lifted the Zimbabwean spirits.
Ravichandran Ashwin (22/3) broke the partnership in the fourteenth over. Ryan Burl missed a flighted delivery from the spinner, and the ball brushed his pads before hitting the stumps. The spinner claimed two more wickets in his last over. He had Wellington Masakadza (1 off 7 balls) caught at covers by Rohit Sharma and proceeded to clean bowl Richard Ngarava (1 off 2 balls) for a three-wicket haul.
Hardik Pandya ended Raza’s valiant innings in the seventeenth over. Raza misjudged the pace of the delivery and pulled it straight to Suryakumar Yadav. Axar Patel (40/1) ended the Zimbabwe innings by catching Tendai Chatara (4 off 4 balls) off his own bowling. Zimbabwe was all out for 115 in 17.2 overs.
Suryakumar Yadav received the player of the match award for his blitzkrieg innings, which powered India to an imposing total.
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