India beat Zimbabwe and Top the Group:



Big win for India here at the MCG! Barring the phase when Zimbabwe picked 3 wickets for 14 runs in 11 balls, the 2007 champions were always in control of this game. KL Rahul's second fifty in as many innings followed by Suryakumar Yadav's pyrotechnics powered India to 186. In reply, the Zimbabweans got off to an inauspicious start as two of their top-three batters perished for ducks against the Indian new-ball swing bowlers. Williams fell off the final ball of the powerplay and Ervine followed him quickly. At 36/5, Raza was joined by Ryan Burl and the duo counterattacked against the spinners to stitch a half-century partnership. Ashwin eventually broke the stand by castling Burl and finished with impressive figures of 4-0-23-3. Rohit employed six bowlers and all of them were among the wickets. Clinical performance from India. For Zimbabwe, their bating just didn't click in the Super 12s. After their thrilling 1-run win over Pakistan, they have lost three matches in a row to finish at the bottom of the table.




So, that is the end of the match, and that is the wrap for the Super 12s. Four teams from two groups- New Zealand and England from Group 1 and India and Pakistan from Group 2, make it through to the semi-finals! Earlier, India won the toss and opt to bat first. The Men in Blue lost their skipper Rohit Sharma very early in the piece. Then KL Rahul and Virat Kohli steadied the ship with a 60-run partnership for the second wicket. Once Virat was out in the 12th over, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant followed the King. But Rahul was impressive before getting out with a glorious 51 off 35. But the game got a turning point when Suryakumar Yadav took charge, who, alongside Hardik Pandya, added 65 runs for the 5th wicket. While Hardik looked scratchy, SKY showed his class yet again with an array of strokes as he finished unbeaten at 61 off 25 deliveries with 6 fours and 4 sixes to propel India to 186/5 in their allotted 20 overs. For Zimbabwe, Sean Williams scalped a couple of wickets, while Sikandar Raza, Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani scalped a wicket each. While spinners were decent with their economy, pacers were taken to the cleaners. Chasing this mammoth total, Zimbabwe lost their way when the Indian new ball bowlers swung the white ball both ways and dented the opposition by picking wickets in clusters. At one stage, Zimbabwe were 36/5 after 7.3 overs. But Ryan Burl, alongside Sikandar Raza, counter-attacked to put India under some pressure as the duo added 60 runs for the 6th wicket. Once, this partnership was broken by Ravichandran Ashwin in the 14th over as he castled Burl's (35 off 22) stumps, Zimbabwe lost their way again and were bundled out for just 115 in the 18th over. While Raza (34 off 24) batted for a while and was the ninth man to go, Zimbabwe's tail surrendered and failed to reduce the margin of defeat as they handed India a win by 71 runs.