In(di)a (Azha)rain-affected encounter, Zimbabwe lose

India were playing Zimbabwe for the first time since the 1987 World Cup. India made no changed to their playing eleven. Zimbabwe made four changes to the eleven that last played the Indians – Robin Brown, Kevin Arnott, Peter Rawson and Malcolm Jarvis made way for Andy Flower, Alastair Campbell, Mark Burmester and Kevin Duers.

Mohammad Azharuddin, India’s captain, won the toss and chose to bat. Rain had reduced India’s innings to 32 overs. Kapil Dev, who faced 14 balls, scored 10. His innings included a six. Eddo Brandes trapped him leg before wicket, breaking the 23-run stand.

Azharuddin, who faced 15 balls, scored a dozen. His innings included a couple of boundaries. He was caught by Flower. Burmester broke the second-wicket stand, which was worth 20. Krishnamachari scored a run-a-ball (Srikkan)thirty-two, which included five boundaries. Burmester broke the 26-run stand.

The fourth-wicket pair put on 99. Sanjay Manjrekar scored a run-a-ball 34, which included a couple of boundaries. He was caught by Duers off the bowling of John Traicos. Vinod Kambli, who faced a couple of deliveries, scored a run. Traicos broke the two-run stand. Ajay Jadeja scored six off as many balls. He was caught by Ali Shah. Traicos broke the 12-run stand.

The seventh-wicket pair put on a couple. Tendulkar, the player of the match, scored 81. His 77-ball (Sach)innings included eight boundaries and a six. He was caught by Campbell off the bowling of Burmester. Kiran More, who faced eight balls, scored 15. His innings included a six. He was unbeaten, as was Javagal Srinath, who scored six. His four-ball innings included a boundary.

Zimbabwe conceded six extras. India scored 203 for the loss of seven wickets off 32 overs. Shah bowled six wicketless overs, including a maiden. He conceded 38. Duers bowled seven wicketless overs, conceding 48. Brandes bowled seven overs, conceding 43. He picked up a wicket. Burmester, who bowled six overs, conceded 36. He picked up three scalps, as did Traicos, whose six overs yielded 35.

Zimbabwe’s target was revised to 159 off 19 overs. The openers put on 79. Shah scored 31. His 51-ball innings included three boundaries. He was dismissed by Tendulkar. Flower, who faced 56 balls, scoring 43. His innings included three boundaries. He was unbeaten, as was his namesake Waller, who scored 13. His seven-ball innings included a couple of boundaries.

India conceded 17 extras. Zimbabwe, who scored 104 for the loss of one wicket off 19.1 overs, lost by 55 runs. Venkatapathy Raju, who bowled 2.1 wicketless overs, conceded 17. Manoj Prabhakar bowled three wicketless overs, conceding 14. Srinath, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded 20. The four overs bowled by Dev yielded just six. He was wicketless. Tendulkar, who bowled six overs, conceded 35 and picked up a scalp.