Vijay was named Man of the Match for his knock of 72
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
India opener Murali Vijay and captain Ajinkya Rahane scored 72 and 63 respectively to not only lead their side to a 62-run win over Zimbabwe, but give them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series as well.
However, Zimbabwe opener Chamu Chibhabha deserves some credit for his valiant knock of 72.
Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura would have been regretting his decision to bowl first as Vijay and Rahane amassed a 112-run partnership, during which Rahane brought up his half-century, before he was caught by Sikandar Raza at cover off the bowling of Chibhabha.
Rahane’s excellent knock of 63 came off 83 balls and included seven boundaries.
Rahane hit seven boundaries during his innings of 63
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Vijay went on to make 72 off 95 deliveries, which included one boundary and two sixes, before he was caught by Malcolm Waller, who was the substitute fielder, at deep backward square leg off the bowling of Neville Madziva.
Following Vijay’s dismissal, Ambati Rayudu was the only other Indian batsman to make a valuable contribution with 41.
As a result, India ended up finishing on 271/8 off their 50 overs.
Madziva was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Chibhabha, Raza, Brian Vitori and Donald Tiripano chipped in with one wicket apiece.
Chasing 272 to win, Chibhabha was the only batsman to have an impact with the bat as he scored 72 off 100 balls, which included nine boundaries.
Chibhabha made a gutsy 72
Image courtesy of: ESPNcricinfo
Other than Chibhabha’s fantastic knock, the only other noteworthy innings was wicketkeeper Richmond Mutumbami’s as he scored 32.
With all the other batsmen failing to fire, Zimbabwe fell well short of their target and allowed India to take a 2-0 lead in the series.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the most successful bowler with four wickets, while Stuart Binny, Harbhajan Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni and Axar Patel claimed one wicket each.
Chigumbura was disappointed with his side’s performance, and said: “Losing three wickets in first 11 overs made us lose today, something we need to work on from next game. It was a much better wicket today and a chaseable score, we thought they’d score 300 but we managed to pull it back. Unfortunately we didn’t back it up with the bat.”
Rahane was delighted to have taken an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, and said: “We were looking for 280-290 but we batted pretty well and the partnership between me and Vijay was crucial and later with Rayudu. The wicket was slow early but got even slower in second innings and we have a good experienced attack with quality spinners. It wasn’t easy for batting but we bowled well. Our bowlers were up to the mark, they bowled in the right areas and the fielding was right up there.”
Vijay was named Man of the Match, and said: “It was a great opportunity for me to prove myself, I wasn’t getting my flow right but still helped in the opening partnership. The wicket was much better today, a bit on the slower side but we adjusted to it.”