Cricket

#T20WorldCup2022 : Clinical India Powered By K L Rahul , Suryakumar Yadav Crush Zimbabwe By 71 Runs ; To Face England In The Semi-finals

Picture : Twitter/ ICC

India put up a clinical show with bat and ball as they crushed Zimbabwe by 71 runs in their clash in Melbourne . The win saw India finish at top of the table and set- up a explosive clash with England in the semi- finals .

Opting to bat after Rohit Sharma won the toss, India lost Skipper Rohit Sharma early for 15. Virat Kohli looked good for big one but fell for 26. K L Rahul hit his second consecutive fifty 51. Just like his previous match against Bangladesh he fell soon after reaching 50.

But the spark of the innings came from the brilliance of Suryakumar Yadav . In superb form SKY played some astonishing shots all round the wicket and smashed before anyone could believe a fine unbeaten 25 ball 61 ( 6 fours , 4 sixes). Finally getting a match after warming the bench Rishabh Pant did not take his chances and fell for 3 .  Hardik Pandya too has been short of his usual power self and could manage only 18 . It was the  effort of SKY  that saw India reach 186/ 5 in their 20 overs.

For Zimbabwe the bowling figures read : Sean Williams 2/ 9 ( 2 overs)  Richard Ngarava 1/ 44 ( 4 overs) , Tendai Chatara 0/34 ( 4 overs), Blessing Muzarabani 1/50 ( 4 overs) , Wellington Masakadza 0/12 ( 2 overs), Ryan Burl 0/14 ( 1 over) , Sikandar Raza 1/18 ( 3 overs).

In reply chasing 187 ,  Zimbabwe were in spot of bother from the start as Indian bowlers were on top. They lost wickets regularly and the chase was never on. Zimbabwe’s batting depth was never enough to surpass that score and they were shot out for 115 in 17.2 overs. Wesley Madhevere ( 0) , Craig Ervine ( 13) ,  Regis Chakabva ( 0), Sean Williams ( 11). Only two Zimbabwean batsmen showed some intent – Sikandar Raza ( 34) , Ryan Burl ( 35) . There was nothing to write about the rest .

Indian bowlers had good day – — Ravichandran Ashwin (3/22). Axar Patel  was expensive though (1/40 in 3.2 overs), Seamers – Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1/11 ( 3 overs), Arshdeep Singh 1/ 9 ( 2 overs), Mohammed Shami 2/14 ( 2 overs), Hardik Pandya 2/16 ( 2 overs)

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