Ind vs Zim as it happened: India sweep series with seven-wicket win

[caption id=“attachment_1007449” align=“aligncenter” width=“380”] Ajinkya Rahane finally gets a game. PTI[/caption]. 1829 IST India 167/3 after 34 overs - beat Zimbabwe by 7 wickets. Jadeja gets a life. Horrible mistimes a sweep and the ball bobbles around before hitting the back of his bat and going straight to slip. But the umpire misses it. Then Jadeja ends the game with a SIX off Waller. Another dominating performance by this Indian side, led by Amit Mishra. Virat Kohli will have a big smile on his face, having lead India to its first ever 5-0 sweep outside India.

1826 IST India 157/3 after 33 overs. Jadeja slashes Vettori uppishly between mid-off and cover. Gets four. Together with Karthik, he is easing India towards the target of 164. 1813 IST India 141/3 after 30 overs. Jadeja gets a life. Slogs Williams to long-on and Jarvis jumps and gets both hands to it but the ball bursts through it and goes for SIX! Everything else is business as usual. India just another 23 runs to first a series 5-0 for the first time in their history. 1803 IST India 126/3 after 27.2 overs. OUT! Malcom Waller comes on to bowl his offspin and Rahane gives it away. Goes back to cut a ball that was too full and the turn cramps him for room and the ball crashes into the stumps. AM Rahane b Waller 50 (66b 4x4 1x6) Dinesh Karthik comes in. 1800 IST India 126/2 after 27 overs. Sean Williams comes on to bowl slow left-arm spin. Jadeja cracks a full toss down the ground for four Rahane moves back and across to make room and punch Williams through extra-cover for a single and get to his 50. Taken him 64 balls, with four fours and a six. 1757 IST India 120/2 after 26 overs. Rahane currently the more aggressive of the two batsmen. He punches Mutombodzi through extra-cover for four. He has moved to 49 from 62 balls. 1749 IST India 111/2 after 24 overs. Rahane brings up India’s 100 with a single to long-on. Taylor’s poor game continues. Fails to gather after Rahane is beaten by a Mutombodzi googly and the ball runs away for four byes. Been a terrible series for Taylor across the board. Jadeja charges Mushangwe and bashes him straight back over his head for four for his first boundary. 1744 IST India 99/2 after 22 overs. That two-over assault has not turned out not to be a forerunner of things to come. It is back to careful cricket again, with India benefitting from a couple of wides. 1738 IST India 94/2 after 20 overs. Mutombodzi drags one down and Rahane accepts the gift. Rocks back and pulls the bowler over the midwicket boundary for SIX! Zimbabwe won’t mind a few risks though. Two deliveries later, he fires one down the legside that ends up being 5 wides. Keeper had to share some blame there too though. Rahane starting to attack. Slaps Mushangwe back over his head for four. He has moved to 38 from 48 balls. Jadeja is on 7 from 30 balls. 1731 IST India 70/2 after 18 overs. It is a twin legspin attack, with Mutombodzi being introduced as well. He manages to get some turn. The batmen pick up three runs. Mushangwe also gives up three runs in his over. 1726 IST India 64/2 after 16 overs. Jarvis produces another maiden. His 8 overs have gone for just 18 runs. Mushangwe comes on to bowl his legspin and has Jadeja searching for the ball. Goes up for an lbw appeal but the umpire turns him down. Hit Jadeja in front of legstump and was worth a shout. 1717 IST India 61/2 after 14 overs. It has been hard going for India since play resumed. Chigumbura and Jarvis have kept things tight and the wicket of Dhawan took the wind out of India’s sails. Jadeja and Rahane showing caution at the moment - 11 runs have come off the last 5 overs - although Rahane was quick to punch an over-pitched delivery from Chigumbura down the ground. 1703 IST India 55/2 after 10.3 overs. Dhawan brings up India’s 50 with an edge to third man. In the next over, he releases the pressure by square cutting Chigumbura for four. OUT! Jarvis gets one to move just enough to take Dhawan’s outside edge. Dhawan came forward in defence but the offcutter was too good for him. India lose their second wicket. S Dhawan c †Taylor b Jarvis 41 (38b 6x4 1x6) Surprisingly, Ravindra Jadeja is the new man. Kohli ringing the changes in the batting order. 1651 IST India 45/1 after 8 overs. Play has resumed after the lunch break. India start quietly after the break. A maiden from Jarvis followed by Chigumbura giving away just two runs. 1603 IST India 43/1 after 6 overs. India continuing to score freely. Rahane tickles Jarvis to fine leg. Had he missed, he would have been lbw though. Next over, Vitori strays down the leg once too often and Dhawan flicks him over the square leg boundary for SIX! That was casual but brutal. The next shot is even better. Just dropped the bat on a good length delivery outside offstump and it raced away past the ring of fielders. DROPPED! Dhawan gets carried away and goes for the pull. The top edge swirls in the air towards short fine leg and Williams and Taylor go after it. Williams gets under it but Taylor calls him off, then can’t get to the ball in time. Dives full length in the end but the ball hits his fingertips and spills out. Williams would have taken that easily had Taylor not called him off. And that is lunch. 1554 IST India 25/1 after 4 overs. Dhawan starting to time the ball well. Stands tall and takes advantage of some width from Vitori to punch him through the covers. Then pulls Vitori off the front foot for four more. Finishes the over by flicking Vitori wide of the man at deep backward square. 15 from the over. Dhawan has 22 from 15 balls already. 1548 IST India 10/1 after 3 overs. Dhawan cracks Jarvis past midoff. That was pitched up and Dhawan posed with the high left elbow after playing through the line. If Rahane can make some runs in this game, it could push him past Pujara in the pecking order. 1538 IST India 0/1 after 0.4 overs. Cheteshwar Pujara and Shikhar Dhawan open the innings for India. OUT! Pujara bowled in the first over. Pushes forward in defense but leaves a gap between bat and bad. The ball seams in off a good length and hit the top of middle. This won’t do Pujara’s ODI credentials any good but that was a superb ball from Kyle Jarvis. CA Pujara b Jarvis 0 (4b 0x4 0x6) Rahane comes in at No 3. 1526 IST Zimbabwe all out for 163 in 39.6 overs. OUT! Amit Mishra’s googly does the trick again. Vitori plays from the crease and the ball takes the edge. Kohli at slip nonchalantly takes a low catch. Mishra has 6 for 48 in the game. He finishes with 18 wickets in the series, tying India’s record for the most wickets in a bi-lateral ODI series. Srinath took 18 against New Zealand in 7 games back in 2002-03. BV Vitori c Kohli b Mishra 4 (8b 0x4 0x6) 1516 IST Zimbabwe 155/9 after 38 overs. Jarvis decides he is going over the top too. Slaps Jadjea over the offside field for four. There two have nothing to lose now, really. Single off the last delivery brings up Zimbabwe’s 150. Mishra tries to tempt Mushangwe by tossing it up but the batsman isn’t tempted. Presents the full face to the bowler in defense. OUT! Mishra picks up five. Tosses up the googly. Mushangwe doesn’t pick it, plays a heave to leg but misses completely and the ball turns to hit middle stump. N Mushangwe b Mishra 16 (14b 0x4 2x6) 1510 IST Zimbabwe 144/8 after 36 overs. Kyle Jarvis starts superbly at No 10, driving Mishra off the back foot through the covers. Mushangwe then clubs him over midwicket for another SIX! 1508 IST Zimbabwe 133/8 after 35.1 overs. Natsai Mushangwe slams Jadeja for a huge straight SIX! That came out of nowhere. OUT! Mishra’s golden run continues. He has four wickets. Williams goes for the sweep again but only gloves it over the keeper and Kohli at slip takes a simple catch. Soft dismissal. That was the straighter one out of the front of the hand. SC Williams c Kohli b Mishra 51 (65b 6x4 0x6) 1458 IST Zimbabwe 124/7 after 34 overs. OUT! Mutombodzi doesn’t last long. Mishra gets one to pitch on a good length and turn sharply. The edge goes straight to Raina at second slip. Good captaincy from Kohli to put him there. TC Mutombodzi c Raina b Mishra 4 (5b 0x4 0x6) 1458 IST Zimbabwe 122/6 after 33.1 overs. OUT! India strike with the first ball after the drinks interval again. Mishra strikes Chigumbura on the pad with the one that goes straight on and the umpire thinks about it for a moment before raising his finger. Replays show an inside edge though. Chigumbura might have been unlucky. E Chigumbura lbw b Mishra 17 (37b 3x4 0x6) Tinotenda Mutombodzi is the new man. 1453 IST Zimbabwe 122/5 after 33 overs. Williams is in such good touch that a gentle push off Shami fools everyone, including him, and runs away for four past point. He brings up his 50 with a single off Raina, who has replaced Mishra. Taken him 62 balls and contains 6 fours. Good knock under tough circumstances. 1444 IST Zimbabwe 112/5 after 31 overs. Kohli brings back Shami and Chigumbura plays an exquisite straight drive past the bowler. Mishra continues from the other end. Kohli banking on his leading wicket-taker to separate these two. There is a huge appeal for lbw but the ball hit the batsman well outside the offstump and he was playing a shot. Williams picks up a single off the last ball to move to 42. 1435 IST Zimbabwe 104/5 after 29 overs. Chigumbura lofts Jadeja straight back over the bowler’s head. Don’t see that too often. Meanwhile Williams sweeps Mishra to becomes Zimbabwe’s top scorer so far in this innings. These two going along quite nicely at the moment. Williams is on 39 from 46 balls. Chigumbura is on 12 from 28.. 1429 IST Zimbabwe 93/5 after 27 overs. Jadeja returns as Kohli rings the changes. Not sure what the idea is here with so many bowling changes. Williams quick to seize on a short one and cut him to the point boundary. Spinner bowling in tandem with Mishra at the other end. Concedes three singles. 1423 IST Zimbabwe 85/5 after 25 overs. Elton Chigumbura is the new batsman, and he has been in decent form. Unadkat returns as India hunt for more wickets. Gives away just a single and beats the bat a couple of times. Mishra continues from the other end. Chigumbura goes back and punches him handsomely off the back foot through the offside. 1416 IST Zimbabwe 77/5 after 23 overs. Mishra’s second delivery is also a long hop but Williams doesn’t miss out. Slaps Mishra past the non-striker and mid-off for four. 1413 IST Zimbabwe 72/5 after 22.1 overs. OUT! Amit Mishra strikes with his first ball, which wasn’t a good one. A long hop and Waller rocked back to pull it but doesn’t time it and Mohit Sharma at mid-on takes an easy catch. Zimbabwe’s batsmen continue to get themselves out. MN Waller c Sharma b Mishra 8 (18b 0x4 0x6) 1409 IST Zimbabwe 72/4 after 22 overs. Just the one over for Raina. Shami returns and Williams greets him by pulling a short ball to the midwicket boundary. In the next over, Jadeja continues to get turn and bounce. But these two scoring quicker than the batsmen that preceded them. 1403 IST Zimbabwe 63/4 after 20 overs. Kohli turns to Raina. He has used him more than Dhoni typically does. Williams says thank you and sweeps the offspinner for four. Jadeja gets one to turn and bounce past Waller’s outside edge. Unfortunately it bounces too much and goes over the top of offstump. 1357 IST Zimbabwe 53/4 after 18 overs. Jadeja has a slip and short leg in place. India trying to squeeze Zimbabwe now. There has been no boundary hit for four overs. It is all going India’s way right now 1345 IST Zimbabwe 45/4 after 15.1 overs. OUT! Zimbabwe falling apart. Masakadza is bowled by Jadeja with the first ball after the drinks break. It was the arm ball and Masakadza didn’t pick it. Went back to cut, was cramped for room and chopped it onto his stumps. H Masakadza b Jadeja 32 (46b 4x4 0x6) Malcolm Waller is the new man. 1339 IST Zimbabwe 45/3 after 15 overs. Masakadza continues to play a lone hand as Zimbabwe grind. He has moved to 33. Sean Williams is the man keeping him company now. He fishes outside off against Shami. The batsmen seem too conscious of having failed in the series and aren’t playing with freedom. 1328 IST Zimbabwe 37/3 after 12.3 overs. Time for spin in the shape of Ravindra Jadeja. Masakadza lap sweeps him for three. OUT! Maruma is unhappy with the decision. Has a slog at Mohammad Shami and the ball seams between bat and pad before settling in Karthik’s gloves. All the fielders go up but replays show the ball came off the back pad. That would explain Maruma’s unhappiness. He has to go though and Zimbabwe’s top order continues to fail. T Maruma c †Karthik b Mohammed Shami 4 (12b 0x4 0x6) 1321 IST Zimbabwe 32/2 after 11 overs. Unadkat has been superb in this opening spell. Has figures of 5-1-7-1. He has looked good in this series, though the quality of the opposition has to be taken into account. Meanwhile Masakadza pulls Mohit powerfully to the deep midwicket boundary. That was much too short and sat up nicely for the short-arm pull. Maruma gets off the mark with three through cover. Mohit has been uncharacteristically expensive so far. His 6 overs have cost 25. 1310 IST Zimbabwe 23/2 after 8.5 overs. OUT! Brendan Taylor’s poor series with the bat ends. Drives hard at a full delivery from Mohit and knicks it to Suresh Raina at second slip. Timycen Maruma is the new batsman. BRM Taylor c Raina b Sharma 0 (11b 0x4 0x6) 1306 IST Zimbabwe are 22/1 after 8 overs. Unadkat gets one to jag back and hits Masakadza on the pads. Loud shout for lbw but the umpire is unmoved. Looked like it was doing too much in real time but replays suggest it might have hit the top of leg stump. Height would have been a question too for the umpire - and the batsman should get the benefit of the doubt. Huge appeal for caught behind follows as Masakadza slashes at a wide one. The fielders went up instantly but the umpire turns it down again. On the replay, there is a sound as ball passes bat. 1257 IST Zimbabwe are 20/1 after 6 overs. Masakadza continues to play his shots. Drives uppishly but wide of mid-off to pick up three. Taylor, on the other hand, is watchful against Unadkat, who beats the outside edge with one that was pushed across the batsman. 1242 IST OUT! Sibanda slashes at one from Unadkat and gets a thin top edge through to Karthik. Pressure built with five dot balls and Sibanda falls early again. That was too close to cut and bounced more than he expected. A wicket-maiden for Unadkat. Zimbabwe are 13/1 after 4 overs. V Sibanda c †Karthik b Unadkat 5 (14b 1x4 0x6) Brendan Taylor is the new batsman. 1242 IST After 3 overs, Zimbabwe is 13/0. Masakadza crunches an uncharacteristically loose delivery from Mohit through the covers off the back foot. Short and wide it was. Mohit tries pitching it up but the result is the same - a lovely cover drive, this time off the front foot. Masakadza looking in good nick. Mohit gets one to seam back of a length and it darts between bat and pad. Good way to end the over. 1238 IST Jaydev Unadkat getting the other new ball. Sibanda crashes a wide half-volley through the covers. That happens to be the only runs Unadkat gives away though. After 2 overs, Zimbabwe are 5/0. 1234 IST Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda are Zimbabwe’s openers. It will be interesting to see who opens alongside Dhawan for India, with both Rahane and Pujara in the side. Mohit Sharma has the new ball. Solid first over from Mohit. Keeps the ball on a length at or outside off. Allows a solitary single. 1215 IST India have won the toss and will bowl first. The visitors have made two changes. Ajinkya Rahane gets a game while Shikhar Dhawan returns in place for Rohit Sharma. No place for Parvez Rasool though, which begs the question of why they took him all the way to Zimbabwe. Meanwhile Zimbabwe have made four changes. Prosper Utseya, Sikandar Raza, Michael Chinouya and Tendai Chatara have all been given a rest. In their places comes Kyle Jarvis, Timycen Maruma, Natsai M’shangwe and Tinotenda Mutombodzi. After four back-to-back victories achieved with consummate ease, India aim to complete a clean sweep against Zimbabwe in the fifth and final cricket one-dayer. Led well by an in-form Virat Kohli, India have outclassed the hapless Zimbabweans in every department of the game and it would take a momentous effort from the hosts to get at least one win. Aside from a bright spark here or a fighting effort there, Zimbabwe’s performance has been expectedly sub-standard against India, a team which was missing some of its key players such as regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, pacer Umesh Yadav and off-spinner R Ashwin.