India registered their sixth consecutive victory at the ongoing cricket world cup as they crushed Zimbabwe by 6 wickets in Auckland. Chasing a target of 288 runs, Suresh Raina and captain Dhoni played sensibly in the middle overs to ensure India reach the target safely without losing any more wickets. At one stage India were struggling at 92/4 but in the end India emerge victorious once again.
Suresh Raina, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015
Earlier, Indian skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first. The decision seemed good as the men in blue got the initial breakthrough and removed the first three batsmen of Zimbabwe at cheap scores. The quick dismissals of Chamu Chibhabha (7), Hamilton Masakadza (2) and Solomon Mire (9) within the first 11 overs brought Zimbabwe to 33/3. However, it was the 96-run partnership between Brendan Taylor and S. Williamson for the fourth wicket that gave much needed breather to the team.
The Zimbabwean captain Brendan Taylor scored a brilliant knock of 138 (110b, 4sx15, 6sx5) to help his team put a huge run on the scoreboard. The 29-year-old right handed batsman added another 109-run stand with Craig Ervin for the fifth Wicket to help Zimbabwe’s score move beyond 230 at the end of 41st over. Lower order batsman Sikander Raza (28) also contributed well at the end. The African team was bowled out for 287 at the end of 48.5 over. Indian fast bowlers shared 9 wickets between them.
Although 287 was not a big target for India considering its depth in batting order but the team lost its openers too early in the match. Shikhar Dhawan (4) and Rohit Sharma (16) departed at 21/1. Virat Kohli 38 (48b, 4sx4) played patiently to keep the scoreboard moving. The dashing right handed batsman added 50-run partnership with Rahane 19 (24b, 4sx3) for the third wicket. Rahane was dismissed run out by S. Raza. India’s score came down to 71/3. Kohl also departed soon and India were reduced to 92/4 at the end of 22.4 overs. The pressure was mounting over India’s head with the team still needed 196-run to win from the remaining 166 balls.
Suresh Raina 110 (104b, 4sx6, 6sx4) and Dhoni 85 (76b, 4sx8, 6sx2) added an unbroken 196-run partnership for the fifth wicket to script a historic win for India. With this win India won all their 6 matches out of the 6 clashes that they played at the group stage. It is for the first time in the history of Indian cricket that we have won all the games of our group stage. Now India will play against Bangladesh at the quarter final clash at MCG in Melbourne in the coming Thursday.
Brief Scoreboard:
Zimbabwe: 287/10 (48.5 Overs) {Taylor 138, Williamson 50; Yadav 43/3, M. Sharma 48/3, Shammi 48/3}
India: 288/4 (48.4 Overs) {Raina 110, Dhoni 85; S.Raza 37/1, Panyangara 53/2}
Tags: Cricket, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015, India, MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, World Cup, Zimbabwe
