Suryakumar Yadav played yet another breath-taking knock of an unbeaten 61 from 25 balls followed by superb bowling from the bowlers helped India bundle out Zimbabwe for 115 to clinch a 71-run win in their final Group 2, Super 12 match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup at Melbourne on Sunday.
India close out the Super 12s with a comfortable win to top their group – they will play England in Thursday’s semi-final at Adelaide. With four wins out of their five matches, India have 8 points. Defending a target of 187, India got off to a flying start as veteran bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar started the innings with a wicket on the very first bowl of his first over as he dismissed Zimbabwe opener Wessely Madhevere for zero.
Regis Chakabva then came out to bat on the crease. In the second over Arshdeep Singh sent Chakabva packing as he dismissed the batter for zero and left Zimbabwe tottering at 2-2.
Zimbabwe opener Craig Ervine then opened his hands and slammed boundaries at regular intervals. In the 6th over of the innings, Mohammed Shami showed his world-class bowling as he removed Sean Williams for 11 off 18.
India’s star all-rounder Hardik Pandya came into the attack and the bowler dimissed well-set batter Ervine for 13 off 15. Pandya delivered a stunning ball as he caught and bowled the Zimbabwe batter.
In the 8th over of the innings, Shami struck again and gave Zimbabwe another blow as he dismissed new batter Tony Munyonga for 5 runs. The left-handed batter Ryan Burl then came out to bat. After half of the game, Zimbabwe’s score read 59/5, at this stage they needed 128 runs in 60 balls.
Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl opened their hands and slammed Ravichandran Ashwin for 12 and Axar Patel for 16 runs to keep their team in the hunt of the run chase.
The duo started playing aggressively and slammed boundaries at regular intervals. In the 13th over of the innings, the blistering duo also brought up their 58-run partnership stand in 33 deliveries while slamming Axar Patel for 13 runs with the help of back-to-back two fours. The crucial 60-run partnership stand was broken as Ashwin delivered a stunning delivery to bowl out dangerous batter Ryan Burl for 35 off 22 deliveries.
Wellington Masakadza then came out to bat next. After 15 over of the innings, Zimbabwe’s score read 104/6. Experienced bowler Ashwin struck twice as dimissed Wellington Masakadza handed an easy catch to Rohit Sharma after scoring just one run and Richard Ngarava for just one run only.
After delivering 4 overs of his spell Ashwin finished with a figure of 3-23. Pandya then provided his team with a most-crucial wicket as he dismissed Raza, who slammed 34 runs off 24 deliveries, leaving Zimbabwe tottering at 111/9.
Axar then took the last wicket to bundle out Zimbabwe for 115 and handed India a 71-run victory.