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ICC Men’s T20 World Cup: India demolishes Zimbabwe to top Group 2

Team India has already qualified for the T20 World Cup 2022 semifinals after the Netherlands defeated South Africa by 13 runs earlier in the day. A win against Zimbabwe in their last Super 12 match on Sunday (November 6) afternoon at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) guaranteed that the team topped Group 2 and will meet England in the second semifinal at Adelaide on Thursday (November 10).

Suryakumar Yadav continued his outstanding performance in the Current T20 World Cup, as India defeated Zimbabwe by 71 runs in the final Super 12 match on Sunday in Melbourne. Suryakumar hit an unbeaten 61 off 25 balls as India built up a massive 186/5 after electing to bat first. In response, the bowlers, particularly R Ashwin, bowled really effectively, dismissing Zimbabwe for 115 in 17.2 overs.

KL Rahul (51 off 35) and Suryakumar Yadav (61* off 25) batted well for India, as Ravichandran Ashwin (3-22), Hardik Pandya (2-16), and Mohammed Shami (2-14) took seven wickets between them.

Rahul scored a 34-ball fifty with a six in the 13th over, while Suryakumar hit a 23-ball half-century in the 20th as India scored 79 runs in their final five overs.

Suryakumar, who was helped by Hardik (18 off 18), hit two fours off Blessing Muzarabani in the 16th and a six and a four off Richard Ngarava and Tendai Chatara in the 17th and 18th overs.

Virat Kohli was out for 26 to the outstanding Sean Williams (2-9) but made a quick impact in the field with a diving catch at cover to remove Wesley Madhevere (0) off Bhuvneshwar Kumar from Zimbabwe’s opening ball of the chase.

Zimbabwe lost their second wicket in the second over when Arshdeep Singh dismissed Regis Chakabva (2) and were 36-5 in the eighth over when Sikandar Raza (34 off 24 balls) and Ryan Burl (35 off 22 balls) put on a 60-run partnership for the sixth wicket.

Burl’s efforts with the bat came after a spectacular fielding performance in which he grabbed a flying catch on the wide long-on boundary to remove Rishabh Pant (3) in the India batter’s maiden appearance of the game.

Zimbabwe lost their last five wickets for 19 runs after Burl was bowled by Ashwin, condemning Craig Ervine’s team to a crushing loss and bottom spot in Group 2.

Zimbabwe must now qualify for the 2024 Men’s T20 World Cup, which will be contested in the West Indies and the United States of America.

Rohit Sharma, Indian Captain: “A very good all-round performance, something we were looking for. We had qualified, but we wanted to come out and play the way we wanted to play, which we achieved. What Suryakumar is doing for the team is remarkable, just coming out there, playing that way, taking the pressure off the others. We know his ability, and it allows the guy at the other end to take his time. The dugout can really be at ease when he bats, and he’s shown a lot of composure when he’s batted. We expected this from him, and he’s gone from strength to strength. The key for us will be to adjust quickly to the conditions. We have played a game there, but we need to adjust quickly. England are a good team, and it will be a great contest. We should take pride in qualifying, firstly, and if we play that semi-final well, we have another big game as well. It’s about understanding the lines and lengths – the square boundaries are shorter – and executing well. The fans have been brilliant all this while, almost everywhere we have gone we’ve got a full house, and we expect the same in the semi-finals as well. On behalf of the team I’d really like to thank them.”

Craig Ervine, Zimbabwe Captain: “I think maybe we could have changed up a couple of other plans. Suryakumar was brilliant at the end, negated Richey’s wide yorkers, which was our main plan. We could maybe have changed our pace a bit more there. Leading up to the tournament, we went in looking to be positive at the top, but the last 2/3 games we kind of went away from there. The ball was swinging, but to counter that we probably could have moved around a little bit, been more proactive. We mustn’t forget the work we did to get into the Super 12s. We’ll look to build on that. Our catching wasn’t so good in the last few games, but I know the boys worked really hard on that.”

Suryakumar Yadav, Player of the Match. “I think the plan was very clear when me and Hardik were batting. He said let’s take the positive route and see where we end up. We started hitting the ball well and never stopped till the 20th over. The atmosphere in the team is very nice, and the build-up to the knockouts has been very nice. My plan is always clear. I’m not trying anything different. I bat the same way in the nets as well. Feels really good, but coming out and starting from zero is what I always think when I come out to bat, and I’ll keep doing that. It’s good to see people come out and support us like this even after we’ve qualified.”

India XI: KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh

Zimbabwe XI: Wesley Madhevere, Craig Ervine, Regis Chakabva, Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Tony Munyonga, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Richard Ngarava, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzarabani

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