Zimbabwe vs India 2013: 2nd ODI - Heroes of the Day

After winning the first ODI by six wickets, India and Zimbabwe squared off for the second game of the five-match bilateral series at the Harare Sports Club.

Put into bat by skipper Brendan Taylor, India were jolted early in their innings, slumping to 65/4 before a brilliant recovery in the middle overs and a late flourish from the tail that enabled them to post 294/8. The hosts wasted a solid start by their openers and suffered a mini-collapse before regaining some momentum in between. Their lack of experience, however, proved to be their bane once again, and they eventually finished at 236/9, losing by 58 runs and trailing 0-2 in the series.

Here are the Heroes for the Day:

Shikhar Dhawan (116 runs off 127 balls – 11 fours, 2 sixes; 1 catch)

The Delhi southpaw seems to be relishing his role as an opener. He started off cautiously, losing opening partner Rohit Sharma early, before adding 33 runs for the second wicket with skipper Virat Kohli (14). Shrugging off the dismissals of Kohli, Rayudu and the luckless Suresh Raina, Dhawan forged a magnificent 167-run stand for the fifth wicket with wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik to bail India out of trouble. He went on to score his third ODI century before being bowled by off-spinner Prosper Utseya; and during Zimbabwe’s chase, took a good catch to send back Sikandar Raza. Terrific stuff!

Dinesh Karthik (69 runs off 74 balls – 6 fours; 1 catch)

The wicket-keeper batsman quickly got into his groove after a sedate start owing to the early strikes by Zimbabwe’s bowlers. He played the sheet anchor role with Dhawan blazing away at the other end, rotating the strike cleverly and scoring boundaries when necessary. In the process, he brought up his seventh ODI fifty before a horrible mix-up saw him run out. He also took a fine catch off seamer Shami Ahmed to send back the dangerous Elton Chigumbura. Well played!

Jaydev Unadkat (4/41 in 10 overs; 1 run out)

File Photo

The lanky seamer from Porbandar made his presence felt in today’s game. He took out Sikandar Raza with a short delivery that produced a top edge which was smartly pouched by Shikhar Dhawan. Next, he dismissed Vusi Sibanda courtesy an inside-edge that was snapped up by Amit Mishra. He then ran out skipper Brendan Taylor before returning to clean up Kyle Jarvis and Brian Vitori, thus completing his first four-wicket haul in ODIs. An excellent prospect for the future!

Vinay Kumar (27 n.o. off 12 balls – 2 fours, 2 sixes; 0/49 in 9 overs)

With India in danger of being bowled out just short of 280, Bangalore seamer Vinay Kumar swung the long handle to telling effect, belting two sixes and a four off left-arm spinner Sean Williams in the last over, scoring 17 of the 23 runs that boosted his side’s final score to 294. However, he went for runs while bowling, conceding 49 in his 9 overs without picking up a wicket. India will need him to come good with the ball as that is his primary role – the odd cameo here and there also helps, though.

Prosper Utseya (1/67 in 10 overs; 52 not out off 62 balls – 5 fours)

One of Zimbabwe’s better performers, the off-spinner castled centurion Shikhar Dhawan just when the left-hander was beginning to cut loose; despite this, he proved to be expensive, conceding 67 runs in his full 10 overs. During the chase, he forged a fighting alliance with fellow former captain Elton Chigumbura, adding 88 runs for the seventh wicket. In the process, he scored his fourth ODI half-century, but despite his heroics, he just couldn’t finish the job. A fine display by the 28-year-old.

Vusimuzi Sibanda (1 catch; 1 run out; 55 runs off 65 balls – 7 fours, 2 sixes)

The energetic Sibanda was into the action early when he took a good catch to send back Rohit Sharma off left-arm pacer Brian Vitori for 1. He also effected a run-out of Amit Mishra, and gave his side another solid start, sharing two fruitful partnerships of 45 (with fellow opener Raza) and 64 (with Hamilton Masakadza). In addition to his seven boundaries, he smashed two huge sixes, the second off Mishra, to complete his 19th ODI fifty before becoming the second of Unadkat’s victims. Needs to hang in for a longer period.

Elton Chigumbura (1 catch; 0/30 in 6 overs; 46 runs off 58 balls – 4 fours, 1 six )

The former captain once again delivered a good performance in the field today. First up, he took a simple catch to remove Ravindra Jadeja but ended up a tad expensive on the bowling front, giving away 30 runs in his six overs. However, the big-hitting all-rounder scored valuable runs for his team, putting on 88 runs for the seventh wicket with Prosper Utseya (52 n.o.).

Chigumbura is a clean striker of the ball, as was evident when he tonked a length delivery from Unadkat clean over the long-off fence. However, he couldn’t last long either – edging Shami Ahmed to wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik, thus falling four runs short of yet another half-century. He will need to convert his starts into substantial scores if Zimbabwe are to put up a fight in the series.