Amit Mishra’s six sweeps all five

For those who plonked themselves in front of their TV sets,Zimbabwe provided a rerun. Their top-order struggled and they failed to last 40 overs,never mind 50,as they crashed to 163 all out. Also Read: I learned tricks of the trade from MS Dhoni: Virat Kohli

It wasn’t that India came up with something different in this series. They just kept doing the basics,and that was enough to make life extremely difficult for the Zimbabweans.

India’s selectors will have hoped for more of a contest,but there were,nevertheless,plenty of positives for them to take away. One of these was Amit Mishra’s form. The leggie,returning to the ODI lineup after more than two years,took six wickets on Saturday to end the series with 18 scalps.

Matching Srinath

In doing so,he set a world record for a bilateral series,equalling Javagal Srinath’s tally from the 2002-03 series in New Zealand,which,however,comprised seven matches. It wouldn’t have been easy for Mishra to hit his groove immediately after such a long time out of the team. But he struck form almost straightaway,aided by some poor Zimbabwean batting. Right through the series,they struggled to pick his variations,and kept getting out to his googly.

By the time he came on on Saturday,India’s seamers had already ripped through the top order. Jaydev Unadkat dismissed Vusi Sibanda,caught behind,before Mohammed Shami sent back Brendan Taylor and Timycen Maruma. Mishra’s spin partner Ravindra Jadeja had also gotten into the act,cleaning up Hamilton Masakadza with one that went straight on.

Mishra,in fact,was the sixth bowler that Virat Kohli introduced,at the start of the 23rd over,with Zimbabwe 72 for four. The leg spinner struck first ball,Malcolm Waller somehow landing a long hop straight into mid on’s hands. Mishra’s second wicket,that of Elton Chigumbura at the start of his sixth over,was off a much better delivery. It skidded straight on,and struck the batsman on the back leg,plumb in front. A slow,loopy leg break at the end of that over accounted for Tinotenda Mutombodzi,who edged to Suresh Raina at slip.

Mishra’s next three overs saw him pick up three more wickets. Sean Williams gloved an attempted sweep to Kohli at slip,Natsai Mushangwe played all around a googly,and Brian Vitori edged him for another catch in the slips,another satisfying,classical leg spinner’s dismissal. That wicket brought about the end of the Zimbabwe innings,a ball short of the 40-over mark.

India’s chase was hampered by the early exit of Cheteshwar Pujara after medium-pacer Kyle Jarvis sneaked one through the gate between his bat and pad. Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane came up with a few blistering strokes,with the Delhi opener taking charge and going after the Zimbabwe bowlers. Jarvis dismissed Dhawan on 41 but India’s long and flexible batting line-up saw them through. Rahane,who returned to the ODI eleven for the first time since January,scored 50 while Ravindra Jadeja made an unbeaten 48.

Bench strong

For coach Duncan Fletcher and the selectors,India’s performances must have checked a number of boxes. Mishra has surely sealed the reserve specialist spinner’s slot,while Unadkat seems to have evolved since his forgettable Test debut in South Africa three years ago,bowling with increased pace and more variations. The Saurashtra left-armer finished with eight wickets in five games and in the last ODI had figures of 6-1-8-1.

Mohit Sharma impressed with the way he hit the deck and generated movement off the pitch. Ambati Rayudu also came into the picture,and his unbeaten 63 in the first ODI showed he could handle himself in international cricket.

Bigger challenges await,but the Indian benchwarmers can come away from the national team’s trip to Zimbabwe feeling largely satisfied.