In what was his last One-Day International (ODI), Brendan Taylor played a timely, one-of-a-kind knock to take Zimbabwe to a fine total. It looked unrealistic after the African Nation was tottering early on but what transpired later took India by surprise and yet again, Zimbabwean batting passed out with flying colours in the ICC World Cup 2015. Here is how the innings unfolded:
1. Indian bowlers make early inroads: 33 for 3 and it looked like the innings was going to unfold quickly. It was the kind of start that India were hoping for and the bowlers were in imperious touch early on. Mohammad Shami in particular, was rattling the top order and the Men in Blue were delighted. It looked like the innings was going to fold up quickly but what transpired later was almost surreal and was one of the best days in Zimbabwean history in recent times. Umesh Yadav chipped in too. Catch the Live Updates of the match here
2. Brendan Taylor: Batsman, leader and Zimbabwean legend What a knock it was. Brendan Taylor had to stabilize the innings to start with and build a partnership. Sean Williams lent him good support in the middle and the batsmen decided to play risk-free cricket early on. India’s strength — while batting or bowling — has been the middle overs. The spinners — Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja wear the opposition down by simply running through the overs. Williams took on this challenge head on and went over the top. He was dismissed just when he was looking good for more. Taylor then took charge and it was carnage aplenty. Jadeja went for 25 in an over and for the first time in this tournament, the Indian attack went for a leather hunt. The pacers came back into the attack and they were picked for boundaries too. Some of the shots came off supreme slogging that would put Shahid Afridi to shame and some of the fours and sixes had the stamp of excellent cricket shorts.
3. Chaotic last half-hour Brendan Taylor finally departed for a scintillating knock and the capacity crowd at the Eden Park stood up and applauded the outgoing captain, as he basked in the glory. There were wickets aplenty and the runs came in fits and starts too. There were the occasional big hits as the batsmen tried to push for 300 but fell short. The batsmen could have been a little more cautious and played out the overs instead of going for mindless heaves. Nonetheless, it was an innings par excellence from Taylor.
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India vs Zimbabwe, ICC Cricket World Cup 2015: Brendan Taylor’s scintillating 100 rules Top 3 Highlights from ZIM innings
