India maintain winning streak

Photo: Nirapadnews.com

India found themselves in a spot of bother against Zimbabwe before ensuring their sixth win in as many matches in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015. It was an easy win in the end for India by 6 wickets but the Zimbabweans could blame only themselves for letting the golden opportunity of winning against India go begging.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and surprisingly put Zimbabwe into bat. The Indian pacers proved his decision right as they gave the perfect kind of start Dhoni would have loved to have. They could have easily wrapped up the Zimbabwean innings within 200 but for Brendan Taylor, who played a superlative innings of 138 runs to take Zimbabwe’s total well past the 250-run mark. Zimbabwe managed to reach 287 as they failed to play full 50 overs. Indian bowlers pulled it back once again towards the end as all the seamers picked up 3 wickets each. Ravichandran Ashwin picked up 1 wicket but went for too many runs. Ravindra Jadeja also was too expensive.

Coming on to chase down 288, India needed a solid start. But Shikhar Dhawan (4) and Rohit Sharma (16) failed to provide one. Virat Kohli and Ajinkya Rahane then stitched a 50-run partnership but just after that Rahane got run out trying to pick up a non-existent single. Virat Kohli (38) soon went back to the pavilion after a strange dismissal as the ball hit the wicket after hitting his gloves as he tried to play a play outside leg stump. India was under serious pressure for the first time in this world cup, except in the match against West Indies where the target was less than 200. But Raina (110*), who scored his first world cup century, played a brilliant innings under pressure to take India over the finishing line. His partner was Mahendra Singh Dhoni (85*) who has made it a habit to win matches like these. A dropped catch of Suresh Raina when he was in his forties turned the game on its head. Had that catch been held, who knows, the final outcome could have been much different. But it was a good win in the end as it tested the Indian middle order before going into the knock out stages of the tournament.

For Zimbabwe it was an end to a disappointing outing. They had a good time with the bat, but their bowling was below par all through the tournament. And that proved too much costly as they managed to win against UAE only. Overall it was a performance below par for the Africans.

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About Argha Ghosh

An ardent follower of sports and die-hard Manchester United fan, Argha's ultimate dream is to watch a Manchester derby from the Stretford End at the Old Trafford.