India thrash Zimbabwe to set up England semi-final bout

It was a comfortable day out for India at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday as the Men in Blue produced a dominating 71-run win over Zimbabwe to top their Super 12 group. KL Rahul scored his second consecutive half-century of the World Cup, while Suryakumar Yadav dazzled with the bat, plundering an unbeaten 61 off 25 deliveries before the bowlers completed the job to bowl out Zimbabwe for 115 and wrap up the victory.

This win means that India will face England in the semi-final at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday, while Pakistan will meet New Zealand in Sydney in the other final-four meeting.

Winning the toss and opting to bat first, India started cautiously as the new ball swung early on for Tendai Chatara and Richard Ngarva. Rohit Sharma picked out deep square leg with a pull shot to depart for 15, but KL Rahul continued his fine form from the previous encounter against Bangladesh to spur the Indians on. Rahul pulled Ngarva over square leg for six before smashing Ryan Burl for two consecutive boundaries, reaching his half-century in just 34 deliveries.

The opener shared a 60-run association with Virat Kohli that set up the Indian innings, but both batters departed within four deliveries to halt the Men in Blue’s progress. Playing in his first game of the tournament, Rishabh Pant was also removed by a fantastic catch by Ryan Burl at long-on, with India slowing down through the middle period and scoring just 28 runs between overs 11 to 15.

However, the story was completely different in the death overs. Suryakumar Yadav came into his own in the back half of the innings, helping the Men in Blue smash an incredible 79 runs off the final 30 balls. Yadav continually peppered the fine-leg boundary with his ramp shots behind square, punishing the Zimbabwe bowlers and their wide yorkers as he hit six fours and four sixes to take India to 186 for five in 20 overs.

The Indian seamers added to Zimbabwe’s misery in the run chase as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh made full use of the helpful conditions early on. Kumar dismissed Wessly Madhevere off the first ball of the innings, while Arshdeep Singh found some late swing to castle Regis Chakabva in the next over.

Zimbabwe never recovered from this early new-ball onslaught. Barring some brief resistance from Sikandar Raza and Ryan Burl, the associate nation folded for 115 in 17.2 overs, with R Ashwin, Hardik Pandya, and Mohammed Shami picking up seven wickets between them.