Zaheer bowls India to victory

Sharjah, October 23: In a nail-biting finish, India choked Zimbabwe in the final overs and beat them by 13 runs here on Sunday after brill...

Sharjah, October 23: In a nail-biting finish, India choked Zimbabwe in the final overs and beat them by 13 runs here on Sunday after brilliant bowling by the new find Zaheer Khan.

Zimbabwe were to make 20 runs in the final over to beat India’s score of 265 for eight but they ended at 252 for six, although they had four wickets in hand.

This was India’s first win in the Coca-Cola One-Day series.For once, India’s tail wagged, adding 81 runs in the last 10 overs to enable the side to notch its highest total in the tournament.

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Then man-of-the-match Zaheer Khan played a crucial role in Zimbabwe’s failure to attain the target by taking three wickets for 37 runs in his 10 overs.

Earlier Rahul Dravid settled quickly into his new role as an opener as India made 265 for 8.

Replacing skipper Sourav Ganguly at the top of the order, Dravid batted till the 45th over to compile a painstaking 85 off 121 balls before his attempt to force the pace ended in a catch on the deep square-leg boundary.

Wicket-keeper Vijay Dahiya boosted the score at the end with 32 off 22 balls as India plundered 55 runs in the last five overs. India’s late charge left Zimbabwe facing a target of more than five runs an over in a match crucial to both teams, who lost their opening games to Sri Lanka.

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Young seamer Travis Friend captured four wickets as the Indians lost batsmen at regular intervals after being sent to bat in the day-night international. Star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who hit his 26th one-day century on Friday against Sri Lanka, failed to take advantage of a life before he had scored and perished for eight. In the day’s second over, Tendulkar pulled Bryan Strang to mid-wicket where Guy Whittall spilled the low catch. Four overs later, Tendulkar was caught behind by wicket-keeper Andy Flower, attempting a wild heave off Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak. Left-hander Vinod Kambli, promoted to number three, made an attractive 18 before hooking a short ball from Friend to Dirk Viljoen at square-leg. Ganguly, who came in at number four, also fell for 18, caught down the leg-side by Andy Flower as he attempted to flick Friend. The promising Yuvraj Singh hit 34 including two massive sixes off left-arm spinner Grant Flower.

INDIA
R Dravid c G Flower b Viljoen 85
S Tendulkar c A Flower b Streak 8
V Kambli c Viljoen b Friend 18
S Ganguly c A Flower b Friend 18
Y Singh b Friend 34
R Singh run out 22
V Dahiya c Marillier b Friend 32
S Joshi b Streak 19
A Agarkar not out 12
Z Khan Not Out 4
Extras: (lb5, w5, nb3) 13
Total (for 8 wkts in 50 overs) 265
Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-51, 3-93, 4-147, 5-189, 6-206, 7-234, 8-252
Bowling: Streak 10-0-63-2, Strang 10-1-32-0, Friend 10-0-55-4, Mbangwa 9-0-40-0, Viljoen 7-0-40-1, G. Flower 2-0-19-0, Campbell 2-0-11-0

Zimbabwe:
Alistair Campbell b Zaheer 28
Douglas Marrilier b Zaheer 02
Stuart Carlisle b Joshi 60
Andy Flower c Joshi b T’kar 63
Grant Flower c Ganguly b A’kar 22
Guy Whittall Not Out 36
Dirk Viljoen c Dahiya b Zaheer 12
Heath Streak Not Out 11
Extras (b-7, lb-10, nb-1) 18
Total: (for 6 wkts in 50 overs) 252
Fall of wkts: 1-21, 2-32, 3-150, 4-165, 5-214, 6-235.
Bowling: Zaheer 10-0-37-3, Prasad 7-0-25-0, Agarkar 9-0-43-1, Joshi 10-0-44-1, Yuvraj 3-0-14-0, Robin 5-0-26-0, Sachin 6-0-46-1.
Result: India won by 13 runs
Man-of-the-Match: Zaheer Khan