Clean sheet in T20

Clean sheet in T20

India beat Zimbabwe by seven wickets to notch up back-to-back victories; Raina finds form with an unbeaten 72

Harare: Skipper Suresh Raina led from the front with a blistering 72 as India signed off their Zimbabwe tour with a comprehensive seven-wicket win over the hosts in the second and final Twenty20 International here on Sunday. Chasing 141, India made 144 for three in 18 overs at the Harare Sports Club ground with Raina dispatching Chris Mpofu to boundary for the winning runs. Tatenda Taibu earlier top-scored with 45 and shared a 43-run stand for the fourth wicket with Charles Coventry (28 off 13) to steer Zimbabwe to 140 for five. Raina stepped on to the field after the fall of Naman Ojha (10) in fifth over and stayed till the job was done. Along with Murali Vijay (46), Raina shared a 79-run stand for the second wicket, which set up the second comfortable Indian win in as many days. Raina's 44-ball knock had six fours and two sixes in it. After an ordinary show in the three-week tour, Vijay finally got some runs under his belt and the Chennai batsman would be relived after playing a good hand in the Indian win. Vijay and skipper Suresh Raina batted with ease and were hardly troubled by the host bowlers. Earlier, confident of chasing down whatever the hosts would put on board, Raina yet again invited the hosts to bat but despite having them in clutches they leaked too many runs in the second half to allow them a come back in the match. While in the first 10 overs India conceded just 47 runs including a mere five boundaries, spinners struggled to keep the run flow in check. Indian pacers, especially Ashok Dinda, were exceptional and did a tremendous job. The Bengal medium-pacer gave away just 15 runs in his four-over quota and took two wickets. —PTI

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