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Dhawan recorded his third ODI century

India opening batsman Shikhar Dhawan gave his side a 58-run win and a 2-0 lead over Zimbabwe in the five-match ODI series after scoring his third ODI century.

Dhawan’s century was well supported by Dinesh Karthik, who made 69 and Jaydev Unadkat’s four wickets.

Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor won the toss and chose to bowl first on yet another cloudless morning in Harare.

His decision to bowl first proved to be the right one as the Zimbabwe bowlers, led by Brian Vitori, removed four of India’s top batsmen in quick succession.

However, Dhawan and Karthik soon rebuilt the Indian innings with a 100-run partnership and both players brought up their own half-centuries as well.

With India’s scoring rate continuing to increase, Taylor and the rest of the Zimbabwe bowlers could do nothing but watch the spectacular show both Dhawan and Karthik were putting on.

Dhawan was soon raising his bat in the air and receiving a warm applause from the crowd and Zimbabwe players as he brought up his third ODI century.

But, just as the pair’s partnership had crossed the 150-run mark, Karthik was run out for 69 off 74 balls, which included six boundaries.

Dhawan and Karthik’s partnership had been worth 167 runs and had come at a run rate of 6.50.

Almost immediately after Karthik’s dismissal, Dhawan found himself back in the pavilion after being cleaned bowled by off-spinner Prosper  Utseya for 116 off 127 deliveries, which included 11 boundaries and two sixes.

A quickfire 27 runs off 12 balls by Indian pace bowler Vinay Kumar took his side to a score of 294 after their 50 overs.

Vitori was the pick of the Zimbabwean bowlers with two wickets, while Utseya, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Sean Williams all took one wicket apiece.

Chasing 295 to win, Zimbabwe got their innings off to a solid start as openers Vusi Sibanda and Sikandar Raza put together a 45-run partnership before Raza was caught off the bowling of Unadkat.

However, a 64-run partnership between Sibanda and Hamilton Masakadza, in which Sibanda brought up his half-century, stabilised the Zimbabwe innings.

But, just after scoring his half-century, Sibanda became Unadkat’s second victim for 55 off 65 deliveries, which included seven boundaries and two maximums.

Sibanda’s wicket started a domino effect as the entire Zimbabwe middle order collapsed to leave them in deep trouble.

However, Elton Chigumbura and Utseya ensured that Zimbabwe would not go down without a fight as the pair registered a 88-run partnership before Chigumbura was dismissed just four agonising runs short of his half-century.

The Zimbabwe tail completely collapsed after Chigumbura was removed and the only batsman left standing was Utseya on 52 off 62 balls, which included five boundaries, when Zimbabwe had used up their 50 overs.

Unadkat caused the most damage with four wickets, while Amit Mishra picked up two and Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja each chipped in with a wicket as well.

Taylor admitted that the 167-run partnership between Dhawan and Karthik had been the game-changer.

“Good side like them, if you give them chances they make you pay,” he said. “That partnership really killed us. Our top-order batters and senior players have to put our hand up and accept responsibility. We were too slow in the field, and there are some penalties in place for that.”

India captain Virat Kohli praised his entire team for a job well done, but paid special tribute to Dhawan, Karthik and Unadkat for their brilliant performances.

“At 50 for 4, it wasn’t looking good,” he said. “Few mistakes from the batsmen, few tricky calls. There’s two sides of being lucky, you can think that I’m not batting well, or you think today is my day, credit to Dhawan for the way he played. A pity Karthik couldn’t make his century, Unadkat has good hieght, he hits good lengths, change of pace as well. We’re playing some really good cricket, we’ve got a new side out there to prove themselves, today the guys responded beautifully.”

Dhawan picked up the Man of the Match award for his breathtaking 116.

“Actually, it was one of my lucky days,” he said. “I was playing well in earlier innings too, but I was getting out. The wickets wasn’t easy to bat on. Me and Karthik just thought we should play on the merit of the ball.”