India vs Zimbabwe - Player ratings

MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina stitched a match-winning partnership

Brendon Taylor’s farewell hundred was in vain, as a calm MS Dhoni and a stubborn Suresh Raina led India to their 10th consecutive victory in a World Cup game. As the group stage comes to an end, and all eyes are set on the knock-outs, here’s a look at how the teams fared in their outing at Eden Park:

India

Rohit Sharma – 2/10

Rohit Sharma’s disappointing World Cup continues. Just when everyone expected him to score well against a weaker team like Zimbabwe, he failed to deliver – getting out to a needless shot against Tinashe Panyangara. Till now, Rohit has scored 159 runs at an average of 31.80 and India will want him to come good in the knock-out games.

Shikhar Dhawan – 3/10

Although Dhawan took a couple of good catches, in no way was his batting display impressive. He scratched around nearly thirty minutes, scoring next to nothing. His dismissal was imminent, it came by an inside edge onto the stumps. All due to an ill-advised cut shot.

Virat Kohli – 6/10

Virat Kohli steadied the ship with Rahane after the fall of the openers, but couldn't last long enough to take India to a safer territory. He got out in the unlikeliest fashion possible.

Ajinkya Rahane - 4/10

Taking a needless run especially when your team is in trouble, is the worst idea possible. And Ajinkya Rahane learnt it the hard way when he got run out by Sikander Raza, attempting a single on 19.

Suresh Raina – 9/10

Raina came in with the score reading 71/3 and left the field only when the job was done. Not only did he score those 110 runs that won him the match, he also stitched a match-winning partnership with the skipper, putting on an unbeaten 196 for the sixth wicket. This innings reminded one of the Yuvraj Singh of yore. Pure magic.

MS Dhoni – 8.5/10

Played one of the best innings of his life, rotating the strike and absorbing pressure. MS Dhoni’s biggest contribution to Indian cricket has been in the way he has taught batsmen to chase with zero risk. The Michael Bevan of today’s generation continues to march on towards World Cup glory.

Ravindra Jadeja – 2/10

Jadeja’s place has been certain all this while because MS Dhoni loves controlling the game with spinners. But Eden Park’s small boundaries exposed Jadeja’s weaknesses like never before as he got tossed all around the ground. A wicketless ten over spell costing seventy odd runs is not good news, especially when there is Axar Patel and Stuart Binny warming the benches.

Ravichandran Ashwin – 4/10

Although Ashwin took the wicket of Ervine, this was one of his most ordinary outings in recent times. And his match figures were a testimony to this fact.

Mohammed Shami – 8/10

Shami is now No. 2 in the list of highest wicket takers in this year’s World Cup. He shares that ranking with Scotland’s Joshua Davey and New Zealand’s Trent Boult, who is considered to be one of the best new ball bowler operating currently. Shami’s recent achievements tell us how a slight change in approach can bring the needed results. The Bengal pacer continues to impress.

Umesh Yadav – 8/10

Umesh alongwith Shami and Mohit has done a splendid job in making the Indian bowling line-up look far more potent than what it was till just a month back. His 3 wickets for 43 runs sealed the deal for India on Saturday.

Mohit Sharma – 8/10

Deceptively quick, Sharma picked the wickets of Solomon Mire, Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine to peg Zimbabwe back. Just when the African side seemed like reaching a total beyond 300. With immaculate line and length, Mohit Sharma’s addition to the Indian squad is a boon.

The Zimbabwe players walk off the pitch after the match

Zimbabwe

Chamu Chibhabha – 2/10

Fell early on in his innings, without troubling the scorers. Hasn’t really set the ground on fire after his 64 against South Africa at Hamilton.

Hamilton Masakadza – 1/10

The entire Zimbabwean outfit was depending on Masakadza to give them a good start, but the right hander failed miserably. After falling cheaply for 2, he dropped a simple catch to give Suresh Raina an opportunity to bludgeon Zimbabwe.

Solomon Mire – 2/10

The 25-year-old Mire was the third batsman to go in quick succession. Although he was relatively economical with the ball, his overall contribution was insufficient.

Brendon Taylor – 9/10

The best batsman on display from either side. It’s not an overstatement to say that Taylor was fabulous, as he simply was. He faced a quality Indian pace-bowling line up and milked them for runs from all around. The 110-ball knock of 138 not only took Zimbabwe to a commandable position in the game, but also made him the only cricketer to achieve consecutive hundreds in his final two ODIs.

Sean Williams – 7/10

Williams played second fiddle to Taylor, and scored a smart half century. His 93-run partnership with Taylor was largely responsible for Zimbabwe’s total.

Craig Ervine – 6/10

Craig Ervine was solid till he lasted. He somehow managed to consolidate the platform the Taylor-Williams partnership had provided. Fell to a soft dismissal just when he seemed like going all out attack.

Sikandar Raza – 8/10

Initiated a run out and took a wicket to dent India’s chase. With the bat in hand, he played a lovely little cameo to accelerate Zimbabwe’s scoring rate towards the end of the innings.

Regis Chakabva – 4/10

His 10 runs with the bat eventually made little difference to the Zimbabwean score. But one can’t blame him for trying. Was responsible for one of the worst throws you’ll ever see from a fielder to the wicket-keeper.

Tinashe Panyangara – 6/10

Was expensive towards the end, but did quite well to attack the Indians early on. Panyangara was solely responsible for India’s early stutter.

Tawanda Mupariwa – 2/10

Mupariwa gave runs away quite easily, all throughout his spell. Remaining wicketless after bowling 10 overs.

Tendai Chatara – 1/10

Zero runs and zero wickets. If only he had repeated what he did against Pakistan at Brisbane, Chatara would have been rated higher.