Zimbabwe upset India with a smart 6-wkt win

Tags: Tri-Series In Zimbabwe 2010, Zimbabwe, India, ZIM V IND 1st ODI at Bulawayo May 28, 2010, Rohit Gurunath Sharma, Craig Richard Ervine, Brendan Ross Murray Taylor

Published on: May 29, 2010

Scorecard | Commentary | Graphs

Zimbabwe won the opening match of the Tr-Series against India by 6 wickets with 10 balls to spare.

Zimbabwe Innings

Zimbabwe won the opening match of the Tr-Series against India by 6 wickets with 10 balls to spare. On what was a placid pitch for sure, India just didn't have enough runs to defend although they put on 285 on the board. The Zimbabwean openers Hamilton Masakadza (46) and Brendan Taylor (81 from 103 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes) set the chase very well by putting on 88 on board for the first wicket in 13 overs and the middle order consolidated their efforts to clinch the chase!

Apart from Brendan Taylor who batted for 34 overs to put Zimbabwe in a strong position, it was the efforts of debutant left hander - Craig Ervine (67 not out from 60 balls with 5 fours) that finished the deal for the homeside. Ervine was well supported by the experienced Charles Coventry who struck three crucial sixes in a 25-ball cameo of 32 that released whatever pressure that was there when a set Taylor was dismissed at 176 for 3. Coventry put on a match-winning stand of 55 runs with Ervine.

The Indian bowling was alright with the three new pacers - Dinda, Vinay and Umesh Yadav showing some energy but the pitch was just too slow to hurry up the batsmen. Suresh Raina making his captaincy debut failed to create any impact and seemed to be caught unawares of the situation in the middle.

The Man of the Match award went to Brendan Taylor who did the splendid job with the keeping gloves as well taking three catches plus a run out.

India Innings

India have opened the Micromax Cup Tri-Series against hosts Zimbabwe with a healthy total of 285 for 5 on what looks like a very slow pitch at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. It wasn't a smooth sailing for India having won the toss and electing to bat first as they slipped to a shaky position of 61 for 3 in the 13th over. However, the wafer-thin bowling attack of Zimbabwe which mainly consisted of spinners saw India out of the jail comfortably. Rohit Sharma grabbed the opportunity with both hands to register his maiden ODI century while Ravindra Jadeja came up with a decent half century.

A couple of run outs put brakes on an otherwise breezy start for the visitors. One of the batsmen - Virat Kohli was run out for a duck without facing a single ball. India's new Skipper Suresh Raina did the reconstruction work with Rohit Sharma and the duo put on 67 runs for the fourth wicket. Raina departed having made a responsible 37 from 53 balls before edging his cut shot to a wide delivery from Mpofu. After that, it was all easy going for India through the 132-run stand between Rohit Sharma (114 from 119 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes) and Ravindra Jadeja (61* from 61 balls with 5 fours).

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