India win big to set up knockout against West Indies
India's batting muscle powered them to 256, and despite a valiant 97 from Brian Bennett, Zimbabwe were never really in the chase
India's batting muscle powered them to 256, and despite a valiant 97 from Brian Bennett, Zimbabwe were never really in the chase
Scorer: Sudeep Poojar | Commentator: Ashish Pant
Righto, a win is a win as the India captain puts it but the bowling needs to tighten up against West Indies in what will be a knockout clash on Sunday. If you missed any of the action, Sid Monga's report has you covered.. That will be it from us tonight, thanks for tuning in. Until tomorrow, this is me Ashish Pant, signing off on behalf of Ekanth, Raghav and Sudeep. Ciao!
Suryakumar Yadav, the India captain: We wanted to leave everything behind, the last game, the group stage. There was contributions from all batters and that was heartening to see. We could have been been more clinical with the ball but a win is a win. We need to tighten out screws ahead of the WI game. Don't want to take any credit away from Zimbabwe batters. The way they batted was very smart. From the bowling point of view, we could have been smarter. When we are in such situations, we need to be courageous. When we reach Kolkata we will think of the plans
Sikandar Raza, Zimbabwe captain: Last game it was 250 and there was rush in the batting line-up. Today, we were composed in the first six overs and we gave ourselves a chance. [Bowling] We could have had our defensive plans in place a little better. Once the train goes on, it is hard to stop. We could have restricted them to 210-220 and then you never know. Bowling and fielding we could have done better. The last game taught us how to go about chasing a big total. Not to make an excuse but there are a lot of youngsters in the team, who are playing their first WC, playing in India for the first time. What I am looking forward is a better performance in the field and the batting can be like this. One lax and the game runs away from you. We can sought out all three departments and it will be better
Hardik Pandya is the player of the match: [On his innings] Pretty happy. It sounds like a 23-ball fifty but I had to reassess. I was trying too hard but at the middle I realised I was trying to hit the ball too hard. Then I realized I could time the ball as well. So I did that. We were all were keeping an eye on the other game. Now it's about keeping our skillset. Now we just want to put our best foot forward. Once that [SA-WI] was over, we focused on this game. [Bowling] Pretty good. I like bowling with the new ball. God has been kind. I can ball the inswing and outswing. So, pretty satisfied. I still have to bowl one over to bowl, which I will now
10.34pm Bennett ends with an unbeaten 97 off 59 balls, his innings laced with eight fours and four sixes. Zimbabwe were never really in the chase but they still managed to reach 184 for 6, which was a spirited performance by the batters. Arshdeep Singh was superb with the ball, picking up 3 for 24 while Varun, Axar and Dube managed a wicket each. What does this result do? it means that South Africa have qualified for the semi-final and the India-West Indies game on Sunday will be a virtual quarter-final.
Here's Brad Evans
T Musekiwa c †Samson b Dube 7 (7m 4b 0x4 1x6) SR: 175
Free-hit stays
Free-hit
Anil Kumble feels that on flat pitches, India would ideally want the "comfort of playing eight batters, rather than going in with seven and five specialist bowlers"
Match between India and West Indies on March 1 is a knockout for a place in the semi-finals
It is practically a must-win match for both sides. But while India need to just win, Zimbabwe need to win big
"The brand of cricket we played today and since last year, the same intent, we want to keep" - Tilak Varma
Zimbabwe are knocked out of semi-finals contention, but young opener Brian Bennett gives them 97 reasons to celebrate and stay optimistic for the future
| Super Eights, Group 1 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| SA | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2.259 |
| IND | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0.106 |
| WI | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0.993 |
| ZIM | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -3.415 |
| Super Eights, Group 2 | |||||
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| ENG | 3 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1.096 |
| NZ | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1.39 |
| PAK | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | -0.123 |
| SL | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | -1.95 |
| Group A | |||||
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| IND | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 2.5 |
| PAK | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0.976 |
| USA | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.788 |
| NED | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -1.217 |
| NAM | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -3.108 |
| Group B | |||||
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| ZIM | 4 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 1.506 |
| SL | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1.741 |
| AUS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1.523 |
| IRE | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0.15 |
| OMA | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -4.845 |
| Group C | |||||
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| WI | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1.874 |
| ENG | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0.201 |
| SCOT | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 0.184 |
| ITA | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -1.02 |
| NEP | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -1.349 |
| Group D | |||||
| Team | M | W | L | PT | NRR |
| SA | 4 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 1.943 |
| NZ | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1.227 |
| AFG | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 0.889 |
| UAE | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | -1.364 |
| CAN | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | -2.426 |