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A round-up of the sixth round of matches in the Quaid-e-Azam trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Feb-2013A first-innings six-wicket haul by Azam Hussain followed by an all-round team effort helped Karachi Blues demolish Islamabad by an innings and 33 runs at the Diamond Club Ground, Islamabad. Islamabad ended their league stage on 18 points and although they have qualified for the super-eight along with Karachi Blues, their final position in the table will depend on the result of other group matches.Islamabad, after being put in to bat, had collapsed to 73 for 7, but recovered to finish on 197 in their first innings. Hussain, with his left-arm spin, picked up the 11th five-wicket haul of his career. The Blues responded with 345 in their first innings, with Khurram Manzoor’ 79 being the highest score. Three other batsmen scored half-centuries in the innings to give the Blues a 148-run lead. Islamabad’s batting collapsed a second time in the match, with their innings lasting 42.2 overs, and the team failed to clear the deficit. Akbar-ur-Rehman was the most successful bowler for the Blues, picking up three wickets for 63 runs.Lahore Shalimar collected nine points for their innings win against Hyderabad at the Gaddafi Stadium and went to the top of Group II. Second-placed Rawalpindi are just three points behind with the result of their match pending. Shalimar chose to field and their bowlers justified the decision by bowling out Hyderabad in the 44th over for 103. Aizaz Cheema was the pick of the bowlers with five wickets.Shalimar’s response was led by an unbeaten century by Usman Salahuddin who helped the team take a 243-run first-innings lead. Fast bowler Rehan Riaz took five wickets in the innings. But the lead turned out to be enough for Shalimar’s bowlers as they dismissed Hyderabad for 218 in the second innings. Wahab Riaz, who had three wickets in the first innings, picked up four in the second. Hyderabad, who ended the league stage on 18 points, have also qualified for super-eight stage.Centuries from Sohaib Maqsood and Naved Yasin gave Multan three points against Sialkot at the Multan Cricket Stadium, but Multan couldn’t convert it to victory, which would have given them a Super-Eights spot. After being put in to bat, Sialkot lost wickets regularly – spinner Zulfiqar Babar took seven wickets – and no one besides Majid Jahangir, who scored a century, provided any resistance. Babar’s bowling was backed up by a commanding batting performance, led by a 150-run stand between Maqsood and Yasin. Ultimately, though, Sialkot’s No. 3 and 4 consumed time on the final day to force a draw.After bowling their opponents out for 189, Multan lost two early wickets to be reduced to 33 for 2. However, the next three batsmen in the line-up – Saeed Anwar, Maqsood and Yasin – rescued them, and Multan were strong at 289 for 4. No. 7 Maqbool Ahmed scored an unbeaten half-century to help his team cross 400. But time prevented them to get more than three points out of the game, and in the final standing, they were three points behind their opponents, at the fifth spot.Spinner Atif Maqbool and seamer Adeel Malik took nine wickets between them to help Karachi Whites cement their spot in the Super Eights, as they drew their match against Faisalabad at the Mirpur Cricket Stadium. However, they were bowled out for 207 in their second dig as medium-fast bowler Samiullah Khan took six wickets, and Faisalabad needed 357 runs to win the contest. At 213 for 6 on the final day, with Faislabad having no chances of qualifying for the next stage, both sides agreed to a draw.After choosing to field, Faisalabad were pegged back right from the outset, as the openers put on 103 runs. The Whites’ dominant innings was based on knocks of 90 and 83 from Daniyal Ahsan and Khalid Latif. The last six wickets fell for 44 runs, as seamer Asad Ali took seven wickets, to leave them three short of 300. In reply, Zeeshan Butt scored an unbeaten half-century, but didn’t find valuable support from any other batsman, and Faisalabad were bowled out for 148. Although the Whites were dismissed for 207 in their second dig, rescued by Khald Latif’s century, Faisalabad still faced a daunting task of chasing 357. Their batsmen put up a decent performance, but the match was drawn on the final day.In Lahore, Imran Farhat’s triple-century in the first innings led Lahore Ravi to three points in a drawn match against Peshawar. Farhat struck 50 fours in his knock of 308, off 429 deliveries, as Ravi declared their innings at 512 for 6 on the second day. Their spinners Adnan Rasool and Jahangir Mirza shared seven wickets between them to bowl Peshawar out for 209. However, the match was drawn when Peshawar reached 59 for 3 off 37 overs, on the final day. Peshawar finished the league stage at the bottom of the points table, and Ravi took the third spot.Choosing to field, they were dominated by Ravi from the outset as Farhat built a huge total. In reply, they were in trouble at 42 for 3, and a half-century from Naved Khan and a knock of 40 from Mohammad Rizwan took them past 200, but they couldn’t avoid the follow-on. But having secured three points, and with less time, Ravi couldn’t push for victory.Rawalpindi secured their spot behind Lahore Shalimar at the top of the points table by taking three points off their drawn contest against Bahawalpur. Umar Amin’s century, and half-centuries from Umar Amin and Hammad Azam took them to a commanding total of 404 for 7. Although Bahawalpur’s captain and opener Usman Tariq also scored a century, they fell 88 short of their opponents’ total, thereby conceding three points. Eventually, both sides agreed to draw the game.Bahawalpur finished the league stage positioned second from bottom in Group II.

Peter Siddle has said Australia have not given up on the prospect of winning the Mohali Test, although they know something remarkable would have to happen with one day to play.

Brydon Coverdale17-Mar-2013Peter Siddle has said Australia have not given up on the prospect of winning the Mohali Test, although they know something remarkable would have to happen with one day to play. Only a victory will keep Australia alive in the series. Having lost in Chennai and Hyderabad they need to force a 2-2 draw to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.Losing the first day to rain did not help Australia’s cause but even more of a setback was the 289-run opening partnership they allowed Shikhar Dhawan and M Vijay to compile. Australia’s first innings of 408 looked reasonable but India ended up with a 91-run lead and by stumps on the fourth day the Australians were wobbling in their second innings at 75 for 3, still 16 runs behind.”We know that a draw doesn’t help us at all, but we’ll do everything we can to see where we can get,” Siddle said. “It will be hard for us to win, we know that, but we just have to see where we end up.”We haven’t spoken too much about it, but we knew we had to knock off the target first. They set us a few more than we would have liked to be chasing going back out there but we have done pretty well. We lost more wickets than we would have liked but that’s what we have to do, we have to keep pushing along and see what position we can put ourselves in.”Key to Australia’s hopes will be Phillip Hughes, who has endured an awful tour until this innings but found some form and reached 53 from 68 balls at stumps. Previously in the series Hughes has looked unwilling to play shots against the spinners but in this innings he was more adventurous. The fact he scored quickly was an advantage but the loss of three top-order wickets was the major issue.”He has been working so hard in the nets preparing to score runs and it just hasn’t come about so it is great for him to get a few runs under his belt and be not out overnight,” Siddle said. “It gives him a chance to go in tomorrow and did in see where he goes, hopefully he can go big.”Like Hughes, Siddle had not enjoyed a productive tour until the fourth day in Mohali and the start of the day he had series figures of 2 for 197. But he struck early, trapping Cheteshwar Pujara lbw and later when the ball began to swing he and Mitchell Starc became more of a threat. Siddle finished with 5 for 71 and said it was pleasing to be able to contribute some wickets at last.”Before the Test, I was disappointed with my performances and what I was lacking was building pressure and setting up good partnerships for the team,” Siddle said. “I think I went a bit better in this match with that side of things. There was still a loose ball and too many boundaries that I am picky with myself on. But it is nice to come away with the rewards.”The bowling today from both ends, the partnerships and how we planned to go about getting the wickets, we did that today and I was the lucky one who got the results. I think there was a bit more fight today, we knew we had to go out there and bowl to our plans and slow it down and put a bit of pressure back on them which I think we did. A few wickets tonight set us back but we will turn up tomorrow and see how we go.”

Durham have made a habit of finding their way out of holes, perhaps it’s a mining thing.

Alex Winter at Edgbaston18-Apr-2013
ScorecardBorthwick’s maiden Championship century kept Durham in the game•Getty Images

Durham have made a habit of finding their way out of holes, perhaps it’s a mining thing. Having once again fallen down the shaft, Paul Collingwood and Scott Borthwick dragged them back towards more comfortable air.Collingwood cleared the rubble for fellow Sunderland football fan Borthwick to build on and it was Borthwick who went through to a maiden Championship century from 128 balls. It was an attractive innings with 15 fours and an indication of the talent that was recognised with an international debut in August 2011.Borthwick wanted to play strokes and after the hard work was done following an early tea, played a series of pulls, flicks and drives. He latched onto anything short, pulling with great confidence and, as he grew in stature, allowed himself to attack on the front foot too. His best shot was a straight drive off Keith Barker.Borthwick has done it on the small occasions – a maiden first-class hundred against Sri Lanka A in 2011 and 99 against Durham MCCU in the opening match of the season – but this was his best score in the Championship. A coming-of-age moment, maybe. He turns 23 on day three and can celebrate with his family who have travelled down for the game.Successive cover-driven boundaries off Rikki Clarke took him into the 90s and he brought up the century by pushing Chris Woakes for three through extra cover.”I’ve worked on my batting over the winter,” Borthwick said. “And I’ll try and keep improving this summer so it was nice to get a big score to get us in a good position. When me and Colly got together the plan was just to bat as long as we could. We just tried to keep it simple. Colly is brilliant to bat with, he just takes every ball as it comes.”Borthwick wouldn’t have got his century without his industrious captain. Could there be a better man for a crisis than Collingwood? His leadership transformed Durham in 2012 with five wins from the final seven matches – it only took Warwickshire six victories to win the title – and he who got his head down to lead Durham towards the light again with a three hour innings. It took half of last season for his first half-century of the year but his side were thankful his form showed up earlier in 2013.His 153-run stand with Borthwick – a record for the seventh wicket for Durham against Warwickshire – was made in a marathon evening session of 52 overs. It was the latest middle-order rescue mission. Many were needed last season in a remarkable run to safety where Nos. 4, 5 and 6 in the order filled three of the first four places in Durham’s Championship run-making charts.Collingwood topped the list. Here he was at his gritty best to repel the unrelenting Warwickshire attack and keep Durham in the contest. Two batting points and a first-innings deficit of 61 was an excellent result from 0 for 2 and 5 for 3.At 50 for 6 the Warwickshire juggernaut was back up and running. They welcomed back Barker and Chris Woakes who seemed eager to make up for lost time by taking 3 for 8 in six overs before lunch.Barker was irresistible from the pavilion end. He kept a tight line and found swing, first moving one away just enough to take a feather edge of left-hander Mark Stoneman’s bat and then getting another to hold its line to the right-handed Will Smith who couldn’t get his bat inside the line in time.Woakes added the wickets of Ben Stokes, bowled by one that nipped back from around the wicket, and Phil Mustard, lbw shouldering arms, and returned to break the Sunderland-alliance when Collingwood fended outside off and edged to Rikki Clarke, the safest hands in the country who earlier had shocked the crowd by dropping Borthwick on 40.

The idea behind Chennai Super Kings sending R Ashwin out to open at Eden Gardens was to get off to a rapid start on the sluggish track, Michael Hussey has said

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Apr-2013Chennai Super Kings, thanks to a blitz from Ravindra Jadeja, staged another late recovery to chase down a target in the IPL, on Saturday against Kolkata Knight Riders. That target of 120 was not a big one, though, and had they failed to knock it off, there would have been many questions around why they had chosen to open their innings with R Ashwin.While Super Kings have been searching for right combination at the top all through this tournament, with M Vijay struggling and S Anirudha falling for a duck when given a chance, promoting Ashwin – who has a top score of 11 in the IPL – hardly seemed the answer. He managed to get away a couple of neat fours through the leg side – flicked and swept – but could not give Super Kings the quick runs they wanted of him on the sluggish track. That, according to Michael Hussey, was the idea behind sending him out to open.”I think Ashwin’s role was to try and get us off to a quick start, look to take advantage of the first six overs and he had a licence to tee off. He hit a couple of good boundaries but, as it can happen in T20 cricket, you can get out anytime,” Hussey told the IPL site. “I think there was pressure all the way through, because it was a difficult surface to bat on. It was almost a case of if you play properly, try and work the ones and twos, it can be very difficult to score; but if you try and tee off it might just work.”Given the nature of the track, Hussey said, Super Kings were not complacent about the target. “Kolkata is always a tough place to play; the pitch is always slow and low with less bounce, and we knew even 120 or 130 could be a defendable total here,” he said. “And I think the bowlers are becoming a lot smarter, so the scores over the whole competition have been a little bit lower than normal. But thankfully some late hitting from ‘Sir’ Jadeja got us over the line again.”Hussey batted through to the 17th over, scoring 40 off 51 – the slowest score of 40 or more overall in the IPL – and when he got out, Super Kings needed 31 off 19. Jadeja slammed 36 off 14 to take them home with five balls to spare. “Obviously you needed one person to try and bat through the innings and have the other guy try and hit around,” Hussey said. “But I guess it was easier when I got out. I was struggling to hit the ball very far and thankfully Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo finished the job for us. We have got a lot of power hitters in our line-up and we always have it in the back of our mind that they could get us home.”Knight Riders’ offspinning pair of Sunil Narine and Sachithra Senanayake, who conceded 38 runs between them in eight overs, were expectedly hard to get away Hussey said: “You can pick both of them, but it is still difficult to play them. They know where they are landing the ball and the Kolkata surface is sort of helpful for them as well. It is very difficult to play them here.”

Skipper Marcus North top-scored with 68 as Glamorgan opened their Yorkshire Bank 40 campaign with a 28-run victory over Yorkshire at Colwyn Bay.

05-May-2013Glamorgan 285 for 7 (North 68, Pyrah 4-43) beat Yorkshire 257 (Gale 65, Hogan 3-29) by 28 runs
ScorecardSkipper Marcus North top-scored with 68 as Glamorgan opened their Yorkshire Bank 40 campaign with a 28-run victory over Yorkshire at Colwyn Bay.After winning the toss Glamorgan made 285 for 7 in their 40 overs, with Will Bragg and Chris Cooke also scoring half centuries. But Yorkshire could only make 257 all out in reply, with Dean Cosker taking 3 for 36, although a quickfire 53 from Jonny Bairstow and a partnership of 93 between Gary Ballance and skipper Andrew Gale gave the visitors hope.After Mark Wallace was bowled by Steven Patterson in the eighth over, Bragg and Cooke showed attacking intent with the Glamorgan 100 coming up from 15.2 overs and Bragg going to a 48-ball 50. But next ball Bragg was bowled by Pyrah leaving Glamorgan 105 for 2 in the 17th over.The loss of Bragg did not deflect Cooke, who registered a 46-ball 50 with seven fours, but he failed to build on to a good start when he was caught and bowled by Steve Patterson for 58.The fourth-wicket partnership of North and Jim Allenby looked well settled until Allenby holed out at long-on to give Will Rhodes a wicket on debut.North cracked his fifth boundary as he became the third Glamorgan batsman to reach a half century. They accelerated in the latter stages with 14 coming off one Moin Ashraf over before Pyrah took a very sharp return catch to remove North for 68 from 63 balls.Glamorgan’s hopes of getting towards 300 were dashed when Murray Goodwin, who made 45, and Graham Wagg were out to consecutive deliveries from Pyrah, who was the pick of the Yorkshire attack with 4 for 43.Yorkshire were stunned when Wagg dismissed Phil Jaques and Joe Root in the space of three balls in the second over of their reply. And that helped Glamorgan restrict Yorkshire to 38 for 2 after the first 10 overs.Ballance and Gale began patiently rebuilding before the introduction of Cosker paid dividends when Ballance was stumped off a wide with his first ball.Bairstow cracked three fours off a Michael Reed over to ease the increasing pressure and then hit Wagg for a four and a six from two balls as 16 came off the over. But Glamorgan fought back as Gale was trapped leg before attempting to sweep Cosker.Wagg produced another expensive over with 16 coming off it as Bairstow reached a 34 ball 50 with seven fours and a six before Pyrah holed out on the boundary to give Cosker his third victim. It left Yorkshire needing 105 off 63 balls, but the key wicket came when Michael Hogan returned to the attack to dismiss dangerman Bairstow. Rashid ended with 42 not out from 28 balls but he ran out of partners.

Preview of the Group B Champions Trophy match between between India and West Indies

The Preview by Sidharth Monga10-Jun-2013

Match facts

Tuesday, June 11, 2013, The Oval

Start time 1030 (0930GMT)Can West Indies wipe that smile off?•ICC/Christopher Lee

Big Picture

It is a little surprising that these two sides, hugely popular among the expatriate population in England, haven’t faced each other in an ODI in England in the last 30 years. When India last played West Indies in an ODI in England, ODI cricket and West Indies were the kings. India upset West Indies that afternoon, became the new kings of ODI cricket, and paved the way for a whole new commercial explosion in the format. Thirty years later, as they face off in England again, India are the world champions and the No. 1 ODI side, but the format itself is fighting for relevance, at least in popular discourse.West Indies, knocked off their proud perch long ago, will like to believe they have begun the resurgence through Twenty20, the format that is supposed to be the premier limited-overs format. This Champions Trophy provides them a big opportunity to carry that resurgence into the ODIs. And if they can beat India, the only way to keep West Indies out of the semi-finals will be net run rate. If India win, they are through to the semi-finals as only one out of West Indies and South Africa would then be able to secure two wins*.These are teams built around batting might. The new regulations might have made India sacrifice one of the seven batsmen they loved to play, but they still rely on their batsmen, who racked up 331 against South Africa. West Indies’ win might have come in a low-scoring game, but they played with just three specialist bowlers, with captain Dwayne Bravo, Marlon Samuels and Chris Gayle left to share 20 overs between them. West Indies might add one bowler to the line-up, but it still remains a contest between the mighty batting units.

Form guide

(Most recent first)
India WLWWW
West Indies WWWWL

In the Spotlight

Before Shikhar Dhawan stunned the world with his back-to-back centuries in international cricket, he was discarded because he had failed against West Indies in the West Indies. Going through a phase of supreme form and high confidence, Dhawan now has a chance to set that record straight. Or do West Indies know how to bowl to him better than others do?India’s policy has been clear: play out the initial overs, and the batsmen coming in later can make up for the run rate if there are wickets in hand. Kemar Roach is a man who can put spanners in those works. He did so against Pakistan too, with 3 for 28.

Team news

India had to make two choices going into the Champions Trophy, and both have come off. Rohit Sharma succeeded as opener, and Ravindra Jadeja as allrounder. Don’t expect any changes thereIndia (probable) 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Dinesh Karthik, 5 MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), 6 Suresh Raina, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Bhuvneshwar Kumar, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Umesh YadavDenesh Ramdin will not be available for selection after he was suspended for two ODIs by the ICC. Johnson Charles is likely to keep wicket, and either Darren Sammy or Tino Best will play. Charles had good wicketkeeping practice at The Oval on the eve of the game, first standing to Sunil Narine and then having more drills from the fielding coach.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Johnson Charles (wk), 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 6 Dwayne Bravo (capt.), 7 Kieron Pollard, 8 Darren Sammy/Tino Best, 9 Ravi Rampaul, 10 Sunil Narine, 11 Kemar Roach

Pitch and conditions

Conditions have been quite unpredictable. On the same Cardiff pitch that India scored 331, New Zealand and Sri Lanka lost 19 wickets for 277 runs. West Indies might have played a low-scoring thriller against Pakistan at The Oval, but you can’t surely say this game, too, will be difficult for the batsmen. A cool day with a 10% chance of rain is expected.

Stats and Trivia

• In 23 matches against West Indies, Suresh Raina has scored just one fifty and averages 19.72 with a strike rate of 77.
• Chris Gayle, with 734 at 56.46, has scored the most runs in Champions Trophy.

Quotes

“The Gayle factor will always be there. These are sort of individuals who have a big impact on the game. So it is good to get them out early. Our fast bowlers will have fair chance in the sense they have two new balls and with overcast conditions they will get a bit of help, too.”
*07.50GMT, June 11: The preview has been updated after the Pakistan-South Africa game

David Hussey’s return to Trent Bride attracted a crowd of 8,000 but Notts’ unbeaten record was ended by Sussex

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-2013
ScorecardDavid Hussey has switched from the clamour of IPL to a crowd of 8,000 at Trent Bridge celebrating his return•BCCI

Sussex ended Nottinghamshire’s unbeaten start to the Yorkshire Bank 40 campaign
when they toppled the Group A leaders by 50 runs at Trent Bridge in front of a crowd of 8,000 attracted by discounted admission prices.After being tasked with scoring 224 to maintain their 100 per cent record, Notts’ much-vaunted top order failed to deliver for the first time this season.James Taylor top-scored for the home side with 48 and Samit Patel made 45 as Notts were bowled out for only 173 with the last seven wickets falling for 47 in only 10 overs.Nottinghamshire remain favourites to win the group but will need to lick their wounds and recuperate after their winning streak ended at seven consecutive victories.Earlier, after electing to bat first, Sussex reached 223 for 9 with Matt Machan making 68, hopes of a bigger total stunted by the performance of Harry Gurney who took 5 for 48.Gurney removed both Luke Wright and Rory Hamilton-Brown in his opening burst before returning to claim three more wickets, including Machan, who had shared in a stand of 90 with Ed Joyce for the fourth wicket.Many in the highest YB40 crowd of the season had come to hail the return of David Hussey to the Nottinghamshire ranks.The Australian, returning as the county’s overseas player, took an early catch but then blotted his copybook by spilling Joyce on 20. The Sussex skipper went on to make 58.Machan’s own 50 had come from 55 balls faced and included three fours and two maximums. Left with the lower order after Joe Gatting and Ben Brown had fallen cheaply, he tried to bolster the total by attempting some unorthodox deflections and ramp shots before his luck finally ran out and he was bowled.Matthew Hobden, a 20-year old seamer from Eastbourne, began his debut in style for Sussex by bowling Michael Lumb in the fourth over.The out-of-form Alex Hales failed again, making only seven before driving Andrew Miller to point where Hamilton-Brown took the first of his four catches.Patel skied Chris Liddle, who took three for 21, to mid-off and Hussey only made 14 before the innings collapsed in dramatic fashion with 4.1 overs unbowled.

Virat Kohli hit his 15th ODI century as India easily hunted down 229 to defeat Zimbabwe in the opening encounter

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran24-Jul-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsVirat Kohli and Ambati Rayudu ensured a hassle-free victory for India•AFP

Usually, Indian cricketers ply their trade in packed and raucous concrete bowls and have to deal with a large media contingent. The Harare Sports Club, in contrast, features vast grass banks, rudimentary stands and is ringed by trees. Only a couple of Indian journalists have made the trip to Zimbabwe to cover the series.If that wasn’t enough to ease the pressure on an Indian squad filled with understudies, the cool weather on a sunny day, the toothless Zimbabwe bowling and a benign pitch made them feel all the more comfortable. With the schooldkids dancing in the stands and plenty of fans having a leisurely lunch near the pavilion, the match seemed more like a casual afternoon game in the park, rather than an international encounter.The intensity of the contest particularly dimmed once Virat Kohli took charge of yet another chase. Over the past three years, Kohli has developed into one of the leading batsmen in one-dayers, a reputation forged on the back of several big centuries when hunting down targets, but today’s hundred – his 15th in ODIs, drawing him level with Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Yousuf – could well have been his easiest in international cricket.The chase revolved around a 159-run stand for the third wicket between debutant Ambati Rayudu and Kohli. Rayudu first came to national attention a decade ago, when picked as a 17-year-old for an A tour of the Caribbean and was touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket. However, a tussle with his state association and a dalliance with the unofficial Indian Cricket League combined to keep him out of the India team for years. The friendly conditions were the perfect setting for Rayudu to make his debut, and he helped himself to an unbeaten half-century.Rayudu and Kohli came together after India’s opening pair of Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma departed fairly early – Dhawan after failing to control a hook, and Rohit after nicking a wide, amiable delivery to the keeper. Kohli was fluent right from the start, highlighted by a controlled drive through extra cover and a superbly timed flick to the midwicket boundary. With the asking-rate well in hand, Rayudu took his time early on to settle any nerves, mainly dealing in singles – he hit just two fours till he reached his half-century.With the pitch having dried out, and Zimbabwe’s spinners not getting much purchase, Prosper Utseya’s late double-strike wasn’t much more than an opportunity for the crowd to cheer.The gulf between the two sides was clearly in evidence, though it was widened considerably by India winning the toss. The only time the pitch encouraged the bowlers was soon after the 9am start, and India’s new-ball bowlers, Vinay Kumar and Shami Ahmed, had the ball swerving around though they couldn’t separate the dogged Zimbabwe opening pair of Sikandar Raza and Vusi Sibanda. The openers, well aware of the early danger, concentrated on keeping wickets in hand, not bothering about the scoring rate which remained below three in the first hour.Raza, the Sialkot-born batsman, shrugged off an indifferent start to his international career with a watchful 82 that held the innings together. The camera frequently panned to a man wearing a ‘Team Raza’ t-shirt, and Raza didn’t disappoint his fans. The run-rate may have been wanting, and it wasn’t until the 32nd over that he reached his half-century, but he then showcased his repertoire of strokes, highlighted by two sixes in the Powerplay – one a stunning straight hit over Vinay’s head and the other a muscular swat over midwicket for six more.India’s spinners kept the pressure on Zimbabwe’s top order. Jadeja continued to be in top form, with his steady spin fetching him 10-3-33-0 while legspinner Amit Mishra, playing his first ODI in more than two years, got three wickets. His googly was going to be a big weapon against a team that hasn’t faced him too often, and it provided India the first breakthrough, as Sibanda was lbw in the 22nd over.The disciplined bowling meant that Zimbabwe struggled to lift the scoring rate. It was only around the batting Powerplay, when Raza and Brendan Taylor – Zimbabwe’s best batsman, who walked out as late as the 34th over – piled on 43 runs in five overs, that the home side finally got a move on. After Taylor departed, Raza followed, falling for 82 as he missed a short ball from Mishra. He walked off dejected, and though Elton Chigumbura reeled off a series of boundaries in an unbeaten 43 off 34 balls to lift the target to 229, it didn’t prove much of a challenge for India.