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India put up a dominant performance to record their 447th ODI win by beating Zimbabwe in the second ODI and taking a 2-0 unbeatable lead. India wrapped up the ODI series on a slow Harare surface. An opening partnership of 112 between Ajinkya Rahane and M Vijay ensured the bowlers had a solid total of 272 to defend.
Chamu Chibhabha (72) had batted like the India openers. He played good shots and went only after the loose balls. Three other top-order batsmen, Vusi Sibanda, Hamilton Masakadza and Elton Chigumbura had fallen to unwise shots. Bhuvneshwar Kumar had dismissed the latter two. He even took the last two wickets to finish with his second four-wicket haul in ODIs. At the 20-over mark, Zimbabwe's chase slowly fell away.
After being sent in to bat, India started slow. In the last 10 overs, more pressure was added with the removal of batting Powerplay and the addition of an extra deep fielder. Initially, Rahane and Vijay showed no inclination to take risks and the scoring-rate remained sedate.
In the 26th over, Chibhabha dismissed Rahane. Then, Vijay and Ambati Rayudu gave the innings a bit of urgency. Rayudu whipped the legspinner Cremer wide of mid-on and hoicked Vitori to the midwicket boundary. Vijay stroke effortless sixes off Chibhabha and Vitori down the ground in successive overs. Both these batsmen made partnership of 47 off 45 balls, next one being 44 off 51 between Rayudu and Manoj Tiwary. India stepped into last ten with eight wickets in hand. But the set batsmen went within four balls of each other. The last two overs produced only 15 runs for the loss of three wickets.
-Sumana
