India clinched the three-match ODI series after beating Zimbabwe in the second ODI by eight wickets. Despite losing one more wicket than the first ODI, they won with 23.1 overs to spare as they had to chase a lower total despite Vusi Sibanda’s fifty.
After winning the toss, India decided to bowl first and that worked a treat once again as Barinder Sran and Dhawal Kulkarni picked up early wickets to reduce Zimbabwe to 39/3 after 10 overs. Vusi Sibanda and Sikandar Raza tried to repair the damage but Yuzvendra Chahal got rid of both of them in quick succession.
Chahal finished with three wickets and ran through the middle-order. Injury to Sean Williams, who was brought in for this game meant they were a batsman short and 126 was all they could muster with Sran and Kulkarni picking up two wickets apiece and Jasprit Bumrah and Axar Patel claiming one each.
In reply, Karun Nair and KL Rahul took India to lunch without any loss but the latter lost his wicket for 33 and Nair fell with India in touching distance of the target for 39. Manish Pandey came in and scored the winning runs while Ambati Rayudu top-scored for India with 41.
Dhoni praises bowlers, discusses his batting
India captain MS Dhoni said: “It was a pretty cold day, it was also cloudy. When the sun is out, you feel alright but when it's cloudy, it's always chilly. The credit needs to go to the bowlers for inducing those outside and inside edges.”
He also added that the wicket was different and so was the performance.
“Different performance from the first game, this was a slightly better wicket. The ball was coming on nicely. The shots played by the batsmen indicated that the pitch wasn't bad,” he said. “They had a partnership and there wasn't much assistance for the spinners at that time, but Chahal got that crucial breakthrough for us.”
On whether he will bat Dhoni said: “Not sure whether I will get a chance to bat or not, but for the performance, we have done really well. Last game also we won convincingly and today again. We will sit and discuss the team combination for the next game with Sanjay Bangar.
“It's just one game and we will see whether we use some other players. Only three batsmen have batted for us so far and we'll see what's the best combination for that particular game.”
For his three-wicket haul, Yuzvendra Chahal is the Man of the Match. He said: “I enjoyed the bowling. The wicket suited me, I bowled slow and got the rewards. The batsmen were trying to hit me for runs today. I wanted to bowl a stump-to-stump line and it worked for me.”
Zimbabwe captain Graeme Cremer admits that losing the toss played its part in the loss.
He said: "Losing the toss again may have played a part. But our batters didn't take the responsibility. Some got in but got out quickly. The ball was still doing a little bit and the partnership was still going.
“We wanted to get somewhere around 240 to put India under pressure. Always disappointing to lose someone to injury. Everyone's a bit down in the dressing room. We still have got four matches to go. Hopefully, we can do well in the next one and come out roaring in the T20s."
Here are the reactions from the cricket fraternity:
Aakash Chopra is wondering why Zimbabwe are struggling:
Alan Butcher had a suggestion:
Rohit Sharma:
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