T20 World Cup 2022: India beat Zimbabwe to Top Group 2, Will Face England in Semis on Thursday

India rounded off their Super 12 campaign of the T20 World Cup 2022 with a comprehensive win over Zimbabwe on Sunday and finished top in Group 2. The win, India’s fourth of the competition, means they will face England in the semifinals at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.

Chasing a challenging 187 and surrounded by a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground, Zimbabwe were bowled out for 115 in 17.2 overs with India winning by a massive 71 runs.

Zimbabwe’s woes began with the first delivery itself thanks to Virat Kohli taking an impressive low catch at short cover with Bhuvneshwar Kumar landing an early blow. Soon, they found themselves in deep trouble at 36/5 as all four of Indian pacers landed blows Mohammed Shami accounting for two of them.

Ryan Burl and Sikandar Raza tried rebuilding the chase with some fine shots. They succeeded in their efforts to an extent, adding 60 runs for the sixth wicket.

However, Ravichandran Ashwin then triggered a slide when he cleaned up Burl on 35 before striking twice in one over to leave them reeling at 106/8 in 15.5 overs. Raza then holed out on 34 as India tightened the noose.

This was after



Suryakumar lit up the MCG with some stunning strokeplay as he sprinted to an unbeaten 61 off 25 to propel them to what turned out to be a match-winning total. KL Rahul also scored a half-century - his second successive of the tournament.

Suryakumar was at his best as he produced played jaw-dropping shots with a scoop over fine leg off the final delivery being the best of the lot to help India finish on a high. At one stage, Zimbabwe would have felt confident to limit their opponents under 160 but thanks to the brilliance of SKY, India were able to loot 79 runs from the final five overs.

Zimbabwe though had their moment after taking three wickets in quick succession including that of Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant which raised their hopes of keeping India under 160.

However, Suryakuamr and Hardik Pandya (18 off 18) stabilised the innings with a 65-run stand for the fifth wicket to set the base for a grandstand finish. For India Ashwin took 3/22 while Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya chipped in with a couple of wickets each.