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After
a sub-par performance against the Kiwis, India returned
more positively against the hapless hosts, Zimbabwe.
Playing only their second match of the Videocon Cup,
having arrived in Bulawayo less than 24 hrs. before their
encounter against the Kiwis, the Indians have pulled a
remarkable turnaround. Or, is it that they were playing
against a team that has become so weakened after the
debacle between the Zimbabwe cricket board and “Rebel
Players” that they are testing the patience of the ICC
to renege their Test status? It may be a case of both.
Young
Tatenda Taibu won the toss and strangely allowed India to
bat first. Perhaps he was not worried by the much-vaunted
Indian batting line-up given their current form, or
perhaps he was more worried about his own team’s
farcical batting capabilities to not want embarrassment
first. Resting Sehwag, Ganguly opened with V. Rao, only to
have his partner caught behind off the seasoned Heath
Streak after just 3 balls. Perhaps Rao has really
stretched it now, and after his golden duck in the last
match, and 3-ball duck here, he may well be axed in future
fixtures. Ganguly and Kaif re-grouped, but the skipper
failed to make more from his start, holing out for 20
runs. Rahul Dravid followed soon in his partner’s
footsteps, getting bowled by the talented P. Utseya. Sunil
Gavaskar later mentioned that he was very impressed with
Utseya’s performance, both with the ball and bat, and
could quite possibly be a future star for Zimbabwe. By
this time, India had crawled to 95/3 in 26 overs. But the
youngsters stepped up, and Yuvraj Singh combined with M.
Kaif, and then M.S. Dhoni to revive  India’s
run-rate. All three made healthy half-centuries,
but
most importantly, used this opportunity wisely to spend
much time out in the middle. Dhoni played his usual
fire-cracker innings (56 runs from 46 balls; 2 fours &
4 sixes), and along with Yuvraj Singh (who has gained in
confidence tremendously after his coming-of-age century
against the West Indies a few weeks ago), piled on 103
runs in 86 balls, enabling India to amass 92 runs off the
last 11 overs. India finished at 226/6 from 50 overs.
Such a
score may have been difficult to defend against a deep
batting side like New Zealand, but it proved to be more
than necessary against Zimbabwe. Seemingly still
wonderstruck from the 192 run thrashing by the Kiwis, the
Zimbabwean batsmen looked jaded as they capitulated for a
paltry 65 all out in just 24.3 overs, handing India a
massive 161-run victory, bonus point to boot. But their
relative inexperience was further exposed by some
brilliant swing bowling by Irfan Pathan, who bagged a
5-for from 10  overs
costing 27 runs. While Ajit Agarkar also got his act
together with better seam movement returning figures of 9
overs 2 maidens 18 runs 4 wkts. Harbhajan Singh was
relieved to break his jinx and finally get a wicket, that
of last-man P. Utseya, who, along with H. Streak, managed
to land a 20-run partnership at the end.
While
the result was probably expected, the Kiwis should take
note that even though India only scored 226 against the
hosts while they massacred 397, the Indians did get them
all out for 65, while the Kiwis gave away 205 to their
hosts. And although no one expects Zimbabwe to spoil the
party by reaching the final, so far, save Shane Bond,
India’s bowling has looked most impressive, while the
Kiwi batting has too, of the three teams. It may boil down
to a contest of swing bowling vs. batting depth, and given
India’s ability to restrict the Kiwis to 215 runs the
last time, if they can negotiate Bond, they may dominate
the series yet. Next up for India: vs. New Zealand on
Sept. 2 (Harare).
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