Melbourne, Nov. 6 (IANS): India set up a semifinal showdown with England in the Mens T20 World Cup after a 71-run thrashing of Zimbabwe in their final Group 2 match in the Super 12 stage at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
After Rahul gave India a good start with his 35-ball 51 and Suryakumar Yadav smacked a whirlwind 61 not out off just 25 balls in posting a mammoth 186/5, the bowlers made short work of the Zimbabwe batters to bowl them out for 115 in 17.2 overs.
It meant India finished on top of Group 2 and will meet England in the second semifinal at Adelaide on November 10, while Pakistan will face-off against New Zealand in the first semifinal on November 9.
In defence of 186, India had success on the very first ball as Wesley Madhevere tried to reach out for a drive on a swinging-away delivery from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, but was caught by a diving short cover.
In the next over, Arshdeep Singh lured Regis Chakabva for a drive, but the late swing in off a fuller length meant the ball went through the gate to hit the stumps. With Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep getting the new ball to swing, it made life difficult for Zimbabwe till captain Craig Ervine took a four each of them.
After hooking Mohammed Shami for a six over fine-leg, Williams swung away from the body and was caught at the third man on the last ball of Power-play. Post-Powerplay, Ervine chipped in the air off Hardik Pandya and was caught by the bowler off his right hand. In the next over, Shami struck again by trapping Tony Munyonga plumb lbw.
Ryan Burl was impressive with his sweep and reverse-sweeps, one of which got him a six off Ravichandran Ashwin apart from smashing anything with width for boundaries off the off-spinner, Pandya and Axar Patel.
But Ashwin struck to break the 60-run partnership, forcing Burl to go for an on-drive on a fuller ball and rattled the stumps. He then took out Wellington Masakadza and Richard Ngarava in quick succession to bag a three-fer. Raza holed out on a pull in the deep off Pandya while Tendai Chatara gave Axar Patel a simple catch off his bowling to give India a huge win.
Pakistan confirm semifinal spot with five-wicket victory over Bangladesh
Left-arm pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi's four-wicket haul helped Pakistan confirm their semifinal spot in the Men's T20 World Cup with a five-wicket victory over Bangladesh in their final Group 2 match of Super 12s at the Adelaide Oval on Sunday.
The unpredictable nature of the tournament meant that this clash became a virtual knockout game as Netherlands shocked South Africa by 13 runs at the same venue earlier in the day.
With the winner to go into the semifinals, Pakistan made the most of the unexpected lifeline as luck smiled on them to enter the last-four for the second time in as many editions of the tournament.
Afridi took four wickets while conceding 22 runs in his four overs to restrict Bangladesh to 127/8, after being 70/1 at one point. In reply, Pakistan chased down the total with 11 balls remaining despite some wobbles along the way to complete an entry into the semifinals after losing their first two matches in the tournament.