T20 World Cup 2022, India vs Zimbabwe Live Scorecard: India will take Zimbabwe in their last group match of the Super 12. India vs Zimbabwe Live Cricket Score, T20 WC 2022, 42nd Match, Super 12 Group 2: Table toppers India will look for an outright win against Zimbabwe on Sunday at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. It’s a proverbial banana skin fixture for the Men in Blue as a loss against the African side will leave them with a lot of permutations and combinations. India will need the Netherlands to beat South Africa, or Bangladesh to defeat Pakistan, but by not too big a margin.
It’s a rather straightforward situation for India but Zimbabwe are no pushovers. But their recent form after defeating Pakistan leave a lot to be desired. After the historic Pakistan match, they have lost to Bangladesh as well as Netherlands. Do they have another upset in them? Only time will tell
India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant(w), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Zimbabwe (Playing XI): Wesley Madhevere, Craig Ervine(c), Regis Chakabva(w), Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Tony Munyonga, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Richard Ngarava, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzaraban
Follow live score and updates from IND vs ZIM below.
India's last league game against Zimbabwe on Sunday provides them an opportunity to tick all the boxes ahead of a probable semifinal. (AP)
Nihal Koshie: The long wait on the bench finally ended for Rishabh Pant. His time in the middle lasted all of four balls. With the designated finisher Dinesh Karthik not really setting the T20 World Cup on fire, Pant made it to the playing XI against Zimbabwe. India was going at seven-and-a-half runs an over by the end of the 13th over but with the in-form Suryakumar Yadav at the other end, Pant found himself in an ideal situation. A push, a couple of chips and Pant seemed to be ready to take his time. But he couldn't hold back for long. Pant went for the slog sweep to left-arm spinner Sean Williams and the shot was on. But he didn't account for the brilliance of Ryan Burl. Burl ran to his left and timed his dive perfectly to pull off a wonderful catch. Experts have been calling for Pant to be included in the Playing XI. At the toss skipper, Rohit Sharma had said they wanted to give Pant a chance as he had not played a game on tour, including the warm-up games. The team management wanted to try out Pant before the semifinals. So will they persist with Pant or will Karthik make a comeback for the last-four game? Tough call, given that Pant didn't do anything wrong in his short time in the middle.
Sandeep Dwivedi: There's a bit of Javed Miandad in Hardik Pandya. As far as batting goes, they were contrastingly different. Miandad was a master of manipulating the ball in the gaps, Pandya makes the fielder's irrelevant since he mostly hits shots that sail over them. It is between the overs, or after every ball bowled, that Pandya and Miandad seem like twins separated by several generations. Whatever the situation, whoever the non-striker, there is always something Pandya has to say. On most occasions, when the all-rounder is on the crease, all mid-pitch conferences are about the Pandya monologue. Miandad was the same. The funniest sight is after Pandya has hit a stunning shot. As is the tradition, the non-striker would walk across for the celebratory punch but that would be the last thing on Pandya's mind. The better the stroke the more his lips move. He is a zone, he is animated, and he is in a frenzy. As the Indians of the 80s would say if you want to make Miandad restless just don't strike up a conversation with him.
Brilliant hitting by Surya Kumar Yadav. If Kohli doesn't Surya does or the bot together will. Indian middle order is looking ominous more than ever in this tournament.
Sandeep Dwivedi: Sikandar Raza's strength isn't his variations or the pains he takes to cover his deliveries under a shroud of mystery, it is the length. He can bowl the off-spinner, carrom ball and back-of-the-hand top-spinners. Plus he also has the pace bowler's variation - the scrambled seam floater. He isn't the only one with that bag full of tricks on the T20 circuit, there are many. But the success of these artists depends on their consistency and accuracy. Raza keeps the ball short of good length to keep the batters guessing if they should reach for the ball or step back. Ball after ball, over after over, the Zimbabwe all-rounder pitches the ball just in that 'patch of uncertainty' slightly beyond the reach of the batters. Once in a while, Raza too is off target. He bowled one that was slightly full and KL Rahul swung his arms and hit a six straight towards the sightscreen. Rahul wanted one more from the ball. Not happening. Raza was back to his usual inch-perfect length, Rahul couldn't connect and was caught on the fence.
Rishab Pant given his first chance of the tournament goes early. Last 14 balls India lost three wickets for 16 runs.
Sandip G: Sean Williams could not believe it. The left-arm spinner had just flung in a short of a length ball, the seamer’s hard length, his original intention might have been a flat, full ball on off-stump. But the ball just slipped out of his hand. Kohli, too, assumed that it was a full ball and had committed to his front foot to drill the ball straight down the ground. The length meant that he had to change the shot, and he decided to slap the ball. The ball reached him a fraction faster than he had anticipated and he ended up slicing it in the air. Williams was so struck with disbelief that he frowned and wrapped his face with his palms. He might not have intended to bowl this ball, but as it turned out, it gifted him with the most precious wicket of all in the tournament.
KL Rahul after scoring back to back 50s departs to Sikandar Raza's magic
The in-form batter trying to up the rate lofts one of Williams and gets caught on the long-on boundary. He made 26(25).
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Nihal Koshie: Horizontal bat shots are getting Rohit Sharma into trouble, not a good sign going into the semifinals. With pace and bounce on offer on the pitches during this World Cup, Rohit who pulls well should have had more success. Last Sunday, he was cramped for the room when trying to pull South African fast bowler Lungi Ngidi. The ball ballooned up and Ngidi completed an easy catch. Zimbabwe's Blessing Murazabani got him to pull one this Sunday and Rohit's fate was sealed. He struck the ball alright but didn't roll his wrists. Moreover, if he hadn't timed it well enough to clear the vast square boundary. Wellington Masakadza took an easy catch in the deep. Against Bangladesh the other day, Sharma's attempt to uppercut ended in the hands of the backward point fielder. Scores of 2, 15 and 15 won't give the Indian captain a confidence boost going into the semifinals. His strength has become a weakness in this World Cup. And in the fast-paced T20 format Rohit can't even afford to let the short balls go.
Devendra Pandey: It was another Sunday when MCG was packed. Zimbabwe was playing India. So what? But imagine the plight of the handful of Zimbabwe supporters in the stands. They know their chances of beating India are less but despite that, they have come to cheer their side. It’s hard to even for the best of teams to face India in a packed house but for Zimbabwe, not used to playing in front of a capacity crowd, this was a big challenge. According to a fan, he missed out on getting the ticket for the India-Pakistan game at MCG so he went for the second-best option - bought Zimbabwe take at the same venue.
Sandeep Dwivedi: It takes how many mistimed pull shots for a batsman to change his ways? Watching Rohit Sharma's dismissals doesn't give one any idea about the answer to that question. So once again against Zimbabwe, Rohit seemed to be finding his touch when he played his usual false shot off a short ball. Facing Muzarabani, Rohit took the field square off the wicket on the boundary but failed to clear him. Maybe, he could try taking a leaf out of in-form No.4 Suryakumar Yadav's book called "How to face the short ball". While Surya, on pitches with a mean and steep bounce, helps the ball to the fine leg, Rohit flat-bats it, he takes on the bowler. It works at home during IPL but on the lively pitches at this World T20, he has been able to pull off his favourite pull shot. A minor tweak is all he needs.
Sandip G: Rohit Sharma could not resist it. The ball was short and sweet, with not much steep bounce or pace. Sharma uncorked the pull, one of his favourite strokes. The ball blazed off his bat. The crack of the bat on the ball will have you believe that the ball would soar into the stands. Except that it does not. It flies and then floats into the hands of the deep square-leg fielder, perfectly positioned under the ball. Sharma gasps in disbelief. He then stares at the bat suspiciously. Taps the sweet spot to check if the spot was firm. But blame not the bat, but the miscalculation. The square fences of MCG are longer than most grounds. And more often than not, an aerial pull with fielders in the deep is risk prone. It’s not a coincidence that twice in four innings the pull, the favourite of his strokes, has undone him in the tournament.
Sandeep Dwivedi: It's a day to not take the minnows lightly and that was evident from India's start against Zimbabwe. South Africa's defeat to the Dutch had made everyone wiser. It was only after 9 dot balls that India opened their account. KL Rahul's trauma about left-arm pacers who bring them back into right-handers too didn't help. Zimbabwe's new ball bowler the left-arm R Ngarava knew this and that's why he swung the ball into him first up. That took care of KL for the next five balls. He was ultra-conservative, even balls to the pads weren't dealt with harshly. India had qualified but still, it was a Sunday when you didn't throw caution to the winds. Finally, on the final ball of the second the Indian skipper thought enough was enough, he thumped the ball over the bowler's head to get a boundary.
Rohit trying to hit one into the stands is caught by the fine-leg fielder.
KL Rahul plays his trademark pickup shot over the legside to score his first six. A couple of misfields by Zimbabwe allows the batters to sneak in a couple of runs. India 17/0
The ball is moving a bit here at MCG. Ravi Shastri reckons this is the best batting surface of all the ones right now. As the sun beats down all the venues are getting slower. MCG started green may be it will get flatter.
India has qualified for the semis but who will they play? Let us find out.
India (Playing XI): KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma(c), Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant(w), Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh
Zimbabwe (Playing XI): Wesley Madhevere, Craig Ervine(c), Regis Chakabva(w), Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Tony Munyonga, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Richard Ngarava, Wellington Masakadza, Blessing Muzaraban
Rohit Sharma - We will bat. It's the preference of the team to bat first, nothing to do with the pitch. We just want to bat first and give our a chance to our bowlers to defend. One change, Rishabh Pant plays instead of DK, he is the only guy who hasn't played a single game on this tour, we wanted to give him a game. Nothing changes, we need to do well as a team
Craig Ervine - We were looking to bowl first. The ball might skid through in the evening under lights. A couple of changes, Wellington and Munyonga are in, Milton has struggled a bit and we wanted to give Tony a chance.