KL Rahul’s ODI century on debut and four wickets from Jasprit Bumrah helped India beat Zimbabwe by nine wickets in the first of the three-match ODI series at Harare. Chasing 169 for victory, fifty from Ambati Rayudu and a century from Rahul helped India cruise home.
After winning the toss and electing to field, India got off to the perfect start as the new ball bowlers asked questions of the Zimbabwe top order. It didn’t take long for Jasprit Bumrah to make an impact as he came on and picked a couple of wickets and then more at the death to restrict them to 168.
In reply, India lost Karun Nair early but an unbeaten 162-run partnership for the second-wicket between KL Rahul (100*) and Ambati Rayudu (62*) helped India reach the target with 45 balls to spare.
Rahul loving his ODI career
KL Rahul was the Player of the Match on his ODI debut. He said: "I enjoyed my batting. The wicket was tough, so I couldn't be complacent. I wanted to play out the new ball, and then take it from there. I'm really satisfied with the way I carried on and stayed not out in the end.
“I just got told by the manager that I was the first Indian to get a century on debut. I wasn't thinking much, there was just one way to get to a century. I wanted to hold my shape and just hit it. There are five more games, it's a sporty wicket. This is my first tour with the ODI team, and I'm loving it so far.”
Indian captain MS Dhoni: “ It was a very good performance. I felt the fast bowlers did well, and were backed by the spinners even though there wasn't much help for them. A win first up is important in a three-game series. The batsmen did a very good job, but the bowlers laid the ground work.“
Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer: We didn't get enough runs. Maybe if we would have got to 220, it could have been a different story. We lost a couple of wickets to good balls, but few of the guys didn't kick on after getting 20s and 30s. Indian batsmen showed how easy batting can get once you get in. Our seamers bowled well, but it just didn't go our way. We know we're much better than that, and we can hopefully win the next game to make the third ODI a final.
Here are the reactions from the cricket fraternity:
Plenty of praise came KL Rahul’s way, RCB teammate Virat Kohli:
Karnataka teammate Robin Uthappa:
Harsha Bhogle:
Mohammad Shami:
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