U A E C R I C K E T . C O M

BY : SYED WASEEM AFZAL.
India, aided by a solid knock of 85 by Rahul Dravid and a late flourish from the lower-order batsmen, defeated Zimbabwe by 13 runs in the Champions Trophy series on Sunday.

India whipped 55 runs in the last five overs to set a challenging score of 265 for 8 in 50 overs. Zimbabwe ended at 252 for the loss of 6 wickets despite useful contributions from Andy Flower (63) and Stuart Carlisle (60).

The Zimbabwean duo added 118 together for the third wicket partnership before the golden arm of Sachin Tendulkar provided the breakthrough for the Indians when he had Flower caught by Sunil Joshi for 63 off 68 balls.

When Flower departed, Zimbabwe needed 116 runs in 100 balls but the remaining batsmen failed to accelerate the run rate.

Carlisle after a slow start played some great shots but he was bowled by Joshi for 60 off 99 balls as he tried to up the tempo. His loss put Zimbabwe at 165 for 4 in the 37th over.

However Grant Flower and Guy Whittall added 49 runs off run a ball before Flower was caught off Agarkar. Although Heath Streak did not lie down and struck Agarkar for a huge straight six in the penultimate over, the target proved to be out of their reach as they ended at 252 for 6.

Zaheer Khan was impressive and snared three Zimbabwean wickets to lead India evetually to victory.

Earlier, makeshift opener Dravid scored a patient knock of 85 off 121 balls. He batted with maturity to hold together the innings which needed a late flourish to produce a respectable total.

Dravid justified his promotion, but Tendulkar (8) and Ganguly (18) fell early, giving a major blow to the Indians.

Yuvraj Singh took some time to adjust but accelerated the tempo, rattling up a swift 34 off 39 balls with two sixes and one four before being bowled round the legs by Travis Friend.

Umpire Daryl Harper first signalled a wide, but after an appeal by wicketkeeper Flower, he called for the third Umpire who confirmed the ball had dislodged the bail before travelling to Flower.

India, aided by a late flourish from the lower-order batsmen, including Joshi (19 off 13 balls), Vijay Dhaiya (32 off 23 balls), and Ajit Agarkar (12 off 6 balls) knoced up 265 for 8 from 50 overs.

Young seamer Travis Friend bowled well and provided vital breakthroughs, but conceded 14 runs in one of his overs and ended with a haul of four for 55.

Click here for full Scorecard.

Sunday, October 22, 2000.
source : UAEcricket.com.

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