India stroll to series win in Harare
India made light work of their third ODI chase against Zimbabwe in Harare on Sunday, reaching the 184 required with 14-odd overs to spare thanks to an unbeaten half century from skipper Virat Kohli.
India made light work of their third ODI chase against Zimbabwe in Harare on Sunday, reaching the 184 required with 14-odd overs to spare thanks to an unbeaten half century from skipper Virat Kohli.
The hosts needed a win to keep the series alive, but could only make 183 all out. India then won with 87 balls to spare and seven wickets in hand to go three-nil up in the five-match series.
India won the toss and chose to field first for this exact reason, hoping to leave themselves with as little work as possible as they look to secure the series title with two games to spare.
Openers Vusi Sibanda and Sikandar Raza were both back in the hut in the first two overs, for a duck and one respectively, leaving Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza to try and rebuild the innings.
The veteran pairing knuckled down and put on 65 together over the next 14 overs, taking the score from two for two to 67 when Taylor departed. The skipper had made 23 off 44 balls before being caught by Mohammad Shami off Jaydev Unadkat.
Masakadza was next to fall, with the score on 80, becoming Mishra's first wicket. The bowler then removed Malcolm Waller with the next ball, putting the hosts five down after a good recovery.
Nine runs later saw Elton Chigumbura trapped LBW by Ravi Jadeja, leaving Sean Williams watching from the other end. The middle-order batsman was the reason Zimbabwe even reached 130 as he made 45 off 53 balls.
Once Williams was sent packing in the 35th over, run out by Jadeja and Dinesh Karthik, it was left to Tendai Chatara and Brian Vitori to add some valuable runs. The tail-enders added 23 and 17 respectively before both falling to Mishra.
Given the small target, India would have liked to get there without losing three wickets, but Rohit Sharma failed again and was out for 14. He was dismissed by debutant Michael Chinouya, caught behind by Taylor.
Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli then took the score from 27 to 67 in nine overs, before the former was dismissed for 35. He was caught by Sibanda off Chatara, bringing Ambhati Rayudu to the middle. He also managed to reach the 30s before falling.
Kohli was solid at one end though, and his final partnership was with Suresh Raina, who ended on 28 not out. Kohli's 68 not out came off 88 balls, not needing to slog given the minor target.
Zimbabwe: Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda, Sikandar Raza, Brendan Taylor, Sean Williams, Malcolm Waller, Elton Chigumbura, Brian Vitori, Prosper Utseya, Michael Chinouya, Tendai Chatara
India: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, Ambhati Rayudu, Ravi Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, R Vinay Kumar, Jaydev Unadkat
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