IND vs ZIM 2nd ODI: Indian Bowlers Again Overpower Zimbabwe, Restrict Hosts for 161

IND vs ZIM 2nd ODI: For 161, Zimbabwe has been given the finger. It was largely a repeat of the first ODI. Williams and Burl attempted to rebuild in the middle but in vain. Zimbabwe began off slowly, but once India made a breakthrough, everything changed.

After being offered to bat, Zimbabwe put up yet another poor performance. Even if they lost the toss again, they are playing in their own home and should be able to see the new ball off in an ODI where there is still enough time to score at the end. But the Indian quicks’ oppressive lines, swing, pace in the late 130s, bounce, and movement of the pitch caused their top order to fail again.

For a brief moment, in the beginning, it appeared as though Zimbabwe would survive the first powerplay and write a different ending this time, but Shardul Thakur’s double-strike set the slide in motion, and the other bowlers took care of the rest.

Ryan Burl and Sean Williams were Zimbabwe’s best chances to move them near to 200, but Williams oddly holed out off Deepak Hooda’s occasional spin, while Burl simply ran out his No. 11 when Zimbabwe had plenty of overs but only one wicket in hand.

With Shardul taking 3 wickets, all the other 5 bowlers used also had a wicket each. There were 2 run-outs towards the end of the innings and that is how Zimbabwe was wrapped up.

It felt like a recap from the first ODI where Team India had grilled the Zimbabwe top order raw and didn’t leave any chance for them to make a comeback. A good fighting effort, later on, did bring some hope but that hope was not enough as there was no fight from the batting side.

Talking about his comeback Shardul Thakur who returned with figure 3 for 38 said, “You have to look at what the opening bowlers have bowled, whether it’s swinging or seaming around. And according to the batsmen, you have to be smart as a bowler to adjust accordingly. Early on it was a little on the slower side. Later on, there was a bit more so we could bowl more bouncers. What I can improve on is guessing where the batsman is going to attack me and bowl accordingly. I think I have good skill sets so I just need to keep polishing those in the nets. Sometimes you just need to hit the deck hard and keep it tight.”

India now has an even lower total of 162 to chase compared to the first One Day International. The team will hope to win this one too with a big margin.