Irfan Pathan produced a devastating spell of swing bowling as India brushed aside Zimbabwe with a crushing 161-run victory in the Videocon Cup today.
After a stuttering batting performance to post a competitive 226 for six, the Indians shot out the hosts for a paltry 65 in 24.3 overs with Pathan wrecking the inexperienced batting line-up with five for 27.
Only Heath Streak managed to cross double figures as the hosts recorded their third lowest one-day international total in what turned out to be a totally lopsided contest at the Harare Sports Club.
The wiry Ajit Agarkar also shared the spoils with four for 18 as the Indian pace bowlers exploited the conditions brilliantly to give India their first victory in thetri-series.
It was Zimbabwe's 35th defeat in the last 40 matches, marking one of the longest losing streaks dating back to 2003-04 punctuated only by a no-result against Australia in 2004-05 and two wins each during their tour of Bangladesh and a home series against the same opponent.
Zimbabwe had reasons to hope for an upset win after they restricted India to 226 for 6 but then their batting came apart in the face of some high-quality fast bowling by Pathan, who registered his best ever figures in ODIs, and Agarkar. Pathan and first-change Agarkar shared all but one wicket and most of the dismissals were by way of bowled and lbws asthe Zimbabweans looked completely clueless and technically ill-equipped.
The biggest stand for them was for the last wicket when Streak and Prosper Utseya (11) added 18 runs in the last-ditch stand.
The cry for Zimbabwe's ouster would again pick up in the international arena as the hosts continue to plunge deeper and deeper into cricketing quagmire.
This was Zimbabwe's third lowest total in their history and the 12th smallest any team has managed in one-day internationals.
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Earlier, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (56) and Yuvraj Singh (53 not out) put on 103 runs for the 87-ball fifth wicket stand which gave a semblance of respectability to the doddering Indians against a midget-weight opposition in Zimbabwe.
Dhoni brought up his half century with two consecutive sixes against Andy Blignaut in the 48th over and Yuvraj's straight six in the final over hurtled India towards their final score.
Dhoni batted for 46 balls for his 56 runs with two fours and four sixes while Yuvraj remained not out on 53 from 71 balls with three fours and a six. Dhoni was out in the final over when he holed out to long-on after an impressive innings.
It was another effort which would have left the Indians dissatisfied as the batting remained unutilized and the end of stipulated overs only produced modest returns.
India crawled for most part of their innings, initially cautious against the new ball in helpful conditions and then almost strokeless against the off-spin twin of Prosper Utseya and Gavin Ewing in the middle overs.
India were straightaway on the backfoot when Venugopala Rao (0), promoted as opener Virender Sehwag was indisposed, departed in the first over, edgingthe redoubtable Heath Streak behind the stumps to Tatenda Taibu.
Saurav Ganguly (20) and Mohammad Kaif (65) put on 52 runs for the second wicket, largely through the handiwork of the latter who admittedly monopolized the strike in the first 15 overs.
Ganguly departed in the 16th over when unable to get going, he tamely spooned a catch at fly slip on the leg-side against the medium-pace of Anthony Ireland. He batted for 28 balls for his 20 runs including two fours.
The spinners then took over and tied the batsmen in knots. Rahul Dravid tried to play a forcing stroke on the onside but was bowled through the gate for 14 runs.His dismissal suddenly saw batsmen see the spinners in new light. Kaif departed in the 26th over when he pushed Ewing down the track and the bowler dived to his right to pick up an outstanding catch.
So slow were the Indians that one stage only one four was hit from 20 overs.
There was the understandable push from the Indians in the final 10 overs which yielded 80 runs as Dhoni and Yuvraj shifted gears.
Most of the thrust came from the wicketkeeper who hurled his bat at everything and even flicked Ireland over square leg for a six.
The wicket was slow and made batting difficult yet the Indians were largely concerned with self preservation and it hurt the team's scoring.
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PTI
