Zimbabwe Beat India in First One-Day Match
The Indian cricket team’s woes continue as after an embarrassing exit from the Twenty20 World Championship, they have suffered a demoralising loss at the hands of Zimbabwe in the first match of the Tri-Series being played between India, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka.
The Indian team had been under the hammer from both home fans and the media after a dismal display in the T20 World Cup, and the team was looking to bounce back in their next tour. However, the loss to Zimbabwe at Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo, will dampen their spirits even more, as even though it is pretty much a 2nd string side of India led by new captain Suresh Raina, they were still expected to make good against an un-fancied African side.
On a relatively placid pitch, Raina won the toss and decided to bat first, and the start was promising. The new opening pair of Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay punished the meagre bowling attack of Zimbabwe to reach 50 in just 7 overs (53 balls with a staggering 26 extras, comprising mostly of wides), but a suicidal run led to the wicket of debutant Murali Vijay who was sent back for just 11, and the former under-19 captain Virat Kohli suffered the same fate as a direct throw from Chigumbura accounted for him on naught. The man from Deccan Chargers, Rohit Sharma, however, once again proved why he is touted as the man to take Indian cricket forward in the next decade, smashing a brilliant century in the middle order. Indian innings needed some rebuilding when Sharma came to the crease, and he combined caution with aggression brilliantly, smashing 6 boundaries and 4 sixes for a total score of 114 off 119 balls. He was ably supported by the captain for the tour, Suresh Raina, who scored 37, and later a (run per ball) 61 from Ravindra Jadeja took the Indian score to 285 for the loss of 5 wickets in the allotted 50 overs. Their overall run-rate was 5.70 runs per over. However, the Zimbabwe fielding was superlative, with Brendan Taylor taking three catches in the Indian innings.
Zimbabwe started their chase in promising fashion. Openers Hamilton Masakadza and Brendon Taylor put on 88 for the first wicket, and the first breakthrough for India came in the 13th over when Masakadza was rolled over by leg-spinner Mishra. Greg Lamb, at number 3 aptly supported the star player, joining hands with Taylor to put on 63 for the 2nd wicket, and continued the chase, but both Lamb and Taylor were dismissed in a space of 4 overs and the chase looked in jeopardy. However, another debutant, Craig Ervine, came to the middle to lead the charge, and put on 55 with Coventry (who scored 32 off 25 balls), and was then joined by Elton Chigambura. Both players kept Zimbabwe in the game, as the required run rate kept growing, and Coventry before being dismissed was instrumental in bringing the required rate down with some big blows. Ervine with his fantastic wrist-work kept chipping away at boundaries when needed, and the match looked to be going right down to the wire. Zimbabwe, who have had a history of getting close and losing the match in the end, this time looked more determined, and Ervine (not out at 67) and Chigambura (not out at 24 off 16 balls) eventually got them to the target of 286 with 10 deliveries to spare (the overall score was 289 in 48.2 overs with a run-rate of 5.97, and six wickets to spare).
Brendon Taylor was declared man of the match for his match-winning 81 runs, with 5 fours and 2 sixes. The stronger side won in an extremely exciting battle which involved a tall chase completed in a confident manner by Zimbabwe. India play their next match of the Tri-Series against Sri Lanka.
Tags: