T20I WC 2022: India beats Zimbawe; next vs England in semis
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Melbourne: India beat Zimbabwe for 71 runs and registered a dominating win in the Men's T20I World Cup 2022 Super 12 match in Group 2 on Sunday. Already confirmed semis after South Africa's defeat against the Netherlands on the same day, this win has made India finish first in Group 2.
Now, India will fight England at the semis at the second semifinals at Adelaide on November 10.
Indian victory was designed by Suryakumar Yadav's (SKY) unbeaten 61 off 25 balls and the team's bowling attack. Chasing the mammoth total of 186/5, Zimbabwe went all out at 115 in 17.2 overs.
India had won the toss and decided to bat first, and opener KL Rahul gave the team a good start with 51 off 35. This includes three boundaries and sixes each. He, who played out a maiden opening over, was timing the deliveries well. When Muzarabani offered width, he stood tall to cut over backward points for four. When Ryan Burl flighted outside the off-stump, he came forward to smash a six down the ground, IANS reported.
Rohit Sharma, 15 off 13 and Virat Kohli, 26 off 25, did not contribute much though both scored impressive boundaries.
Suryakumar kept toying with the field and bowlers' minds, scooping and lofting Chatara for four and six, respectively, in the 18th over. Against Muzarabani in the 19th over, he beautifully timed a straight drive which oozed elegance of the highest quality.
Defending the 186 total, India's opening bowlers, Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar, gave a hard time to Zimbabwe's opening batters. India had started taking with the very first ball of the chase. Both bowlers managed to swing the new ball well.
Then Shami took two wickets, Pandya two and Aswin three wickets, while Axar Patel, who was expensive in comparison, took one wicket.
Brief scores: India 186/5 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 61 not out, K.L Rahul 51; Sean Williams 2-9, Sikandar Raza 1-18) beat Zimbabwe (Ryan Burl 35, Sikandar Raza 34; Ravichandran Ashwin 3-22, Mohammed Shami 2-14) by 71 runs.