India too good for Zimbabwe 'A'

India cruised to a 10-wicket victory over Zimbabwe 'A' in a 50 overs one-day match at the Sunrise Sports Club on Friday.

India posted the winning runs in just 17 overs, thanks to a feisty unbeaten 75 from Virender Shewag and 31 not out from captain Sourav Ganguly.

Zimbabwe 'A' won the toss and elected to bat but failed miserably to post a competitive score as they were bundled out for 103 runs in just 32.4 overs.

It was a combination of poor batting, quality fielding and good bowling that undid the home side.

India then cantered past the winning target with Ganguly getting some valuable time in the middle after three failures in the recent Test series against Zimbabwe.

The wickets were shared among the bowlers, with left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan, right-arm medium pacer Reetinder Sodhi and slow left-armer Hemang Badani each taking two wickets.

Zimbabwe 'A' slumped to 18 for two after losing openers Gavin Rennie for four and Hamilton Masakadza for seven.

Rennie, who scored 72 against West Indies on Wednesday, was caught at extra cover by Sodhi off right-arm seamer Debashis Mohanty. Masakadza was run out by Badani at backward point.

A 56-run third wicket stand between Stuart Matsikenyere and Craig Wishart added some respectability to the score.

Matsikenyere was caught at slip by VVS Laxman off Zaheer for 38, which signalled the onset of a dramatic collapse.

Zimbabwe 'A' went from 74 for two to 78 for five in the space of five balls.

Zaheer then had Barney Rogers caught at the wicket with his very first delivery and in the next over Wishart was trapped leg before for 22 by Sodhi.

Three overs later Tatenda Taibu, who will play for Zimbabwe against the West Indies on Saturday, was run out for four from good fielding by Rahul Dravid in the covers.

With the next ball captain Paul Strang was dismissed first ball, when he edged it to Dighe off Sodhi.

The rest of the wickets tumbled cheaply leaving India a small target.

Shewag decided the best way to approach such a simple task was to attack the bowling as he hammered 10 boundaries and two sixes off just 52 balls.

The 22-year-old has secured his place in the Indian team for the first one-day international against Zimbabwe on Sunday.

"Shewag was brilliant today," Ganguly said. "He has only been here for three days and he looked good."

Mail Cricket Editor