India beat Zimbabwe by 62-runs and clinched the Prayag Cup today in Harare. With this victory, team India won two successive One-dayers against Zimbabwe in this 3-ODI series currently being played in Harare. Winning the toss, Zimbabwe ODI skipper E Chigumbura invited India to bat first, which seemed to be a wrong decision at its outright.

India opener Murali Vijay guided India to 271/8 against Zimbabwe in the second ODI

India didn’t miss out the opportunity and both Rahane and Vijay contributed well from their respective ends. India’s stand-in captain Ajinkya Rahane was particularly at his best today. He led from the front and played a fine knock of 63 (83b, 4s x 7). He also added 112-runs with Murali Vijay for the first wicket. On the other hand Vijay also showed his class in this match. The stylish batsman remained a top-scorer from his team. He played a well-crafted knock of 72 off 95 balls with 1 boundary and a couple of big sixes.

Rest of the Indian batsmen also chipped-in well. Rayudu 41 (50b, 4s x 3) seemed to be in fine touch but got out at the 42nd over, just when he was about to accelerate the pace of the innings. However, at the end of 50-overs India finished with a comfortable total of 271 at the loss of 8 wickets. Zimbabwean bowlers should get the credit for not allowing Indian batsmen to take the total beyond 300-run mark. N Madziva was the most successful with the ball. His spell (10-0-49-4) was a decent one.

Chasing a target of 272 run, Zimbabwean opener CJ Chibhabha 72 (100b, 4s x 9) started the innings in a fashionable manner, but he didn’t get the support from the other end. Other Zimbabwean batsmen couldn’t resist the astute bowling from Indian bowlers, and eventually the whole of African team got all-out for 209 at the end of 49-overs. R Mutumbami 32 (41b, 4s x 3) did try to prolong his innings, but he was caught by Binny off Axar Patel at the 45th over.

Indian bowlers did good job with the ball throughout the match. Bhuvneshwar Kumar once again bowled exceedingly well and picked up 4 important wickets of the host team. He opened India’s bowling attack and stole the show with his impressive (10-3-33-4) spell. However, Ajinkya Rahane needs a special mention here. He batted well at the start of the innings and then displayed some astounding fielding skills on the field. He picked up two stunning catches and dismissed 2 batsmen run-out with his magnificent direct hits. Coincidentally, Rahane also won his debut ODI series as a captain by winning the second one-dayer.

Brief Score Card

India 271/8 (50-overs) ; {Vijay 72, Rahane 63; N Madziva 4/49}
Zimbabwe 209/10 (49-overs) ; {CJ Chibhabha 72, R Mutumbami 32; Bkumar 4/33}

Man-of-the-Match: Murali Vijay for his splendid 72-run knock.

Tags: Ajinkya Rahane, Harare, India, Murali Vijay, ODI Series, Prayag Cup, Zimbabwe