Twitter Reactions: Clinical India brush aside Zimbabwe on the back of Suryakumar Yadav's spectacle
India head into the knockout stages of the tournament after hammering Zimbabwe by 71 runs.
India finished as the group leaders after plummeting Zimbabwe in the last Super 12 clash of the ongoing T20 World Cup at the MCG. The Men in Blue were clinical in all departments after setting a humongous total of 186 runs on the back of memorable half-centuries from KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav.
In pursuit of a mammoth total, Zimbabwe lost their young opening batter Wesley Madhevere on the very first delivery of the second innings, thanks to an acrobatic catch by Virat Kohli. Regis Chakabva followed suit in the next over after he was cleaned up by a peach from Arshdeep Singh.
Zimbabwe's downward spiral continued as they lost their next three wickets for just eight runs, restricting their team's total to 36/5. The African outfit were looking down the barrel after that woeful start but the mercurial all-rounder Sikandar Raza and the hard-hitting Ryan Burl counter-attacked with a brisk stand for the sixth wicket.
Burl gave the Indian bowlers a few headaches, especially the spinners, before veteran offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin sent him packing to dash the hopes of the Zimbabweans. The Indian bowlers then made quick work of the tail as Ashwin finished with impressive figures of 3/22 in his four overs.
Suryakumar Yadav propels India to a match-winning total
Earlier in the match, the Indian skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bat first in front of a jam-packed crowd at the MCG. However, Rohit could not make use of the batting-friendly conditions on offer and fell cheaply in the fourth over of the match. But his opening partner KL Rahul was in no mood to let the Zimbabwean bowlers off the hook and continued on his merry way.
Rahul, along with the former Indian skipper Virat Kohli consolidated after the early wicket, stitching a valuable 60-run stand for the second wicket. But the Zimbabwean bowlers wrestled back the momentum after scalping both the set batters in consecutive overs. The incoming Rishabh Pant also fell cheaply as India lost three wickets in the space of 14 deliveries, handing the African side the initiative.
Unfortunately for Zimbabwe, their joy was shortlived as Suryakumar Yadav came out all guns blazing. The no.1 T20I batter in the world breached the 1000 run mark in T20Is for 2022 on his way to a belligerent half-century of just 23 deliveries, the fourth fastest for the side in T20 World Cup history. It was his trademark 360-degree power-hitting that propelled India to a daunting total of 186 runs in their 20 overs.
Here is how Twitter reacted to India's thumping victory against Zimbabwe:
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