India Take Charge as Shikhar Dhawan Ton Sinks Zimbabwe

A century from Shikhar Dhawan propelled India to a 58-run win and a two-nil lead in their ODI series with Zimbabwe.

Having thrashed Zimbabwe in the opening game of the series, India were made to work far harder on Friday and it could have been closer had the hosts taken their chances.

After being asked to bat first, India were exposed to the moving ball in the morning air and lost early wickets. The favourites were three down with only 55 on the board, but Zimbabwe dropped Dhawan on two occasions and had him caught behind off a no-ball. Those missed chances proved crucial as the opener went on to compile his third ODI century.

Dhawan (116) was given able support by Dinesh Karthik (69) and their 167-run partnership helped India to an imposing 294 for 8 from their 50 overs.

Batting was far easier in the afternoon and Zimbabwe were well placed for a sizeable portion of their chase.

After 20 overs, the home side were 109 for 1, but from that point the game was wrestled from their grip. The departure of Vusi Sibanda sparked a collapse and included the dismissal of star man Brendan Taylor, who was run out by Jaydev Unadkat. In what was a superb second ODI appearance for Unadkat, he also recorded figures of 4 for 41.

Elton Chigumbura and Prosper Utseya fought back with an 88-run partnership, but the damage had been done and Zimbabwe came up well short of their victory target.

Zimbabwe will have to win all three remaining matches if they are to claim the series.