AGENCY
MELBOURNE: Suryakumar Yadav reaffirmed his status as a short-format magician with another magnificent effort as India crushed Zimbabwe by 71 runs here on Sunday to set up a T20 World Cup semifinal date with the mighty England.
Surya, who has matched the peerless Virat Kohli stroke-for-stroke in this World Cup, smashed an unbeaten 61 off 25 balls in India’s imposing total of 186 for 5.
Zimbabwe’s batting depth was never enough to surpass that score and they were shot out for 115 in 17.2 overs with Ravichandran Ashwin (3/22) enjoying a good day at the office.
Save Axar Patel, who leaked 40 runs in 3.2 overs, all the other Indian bowlers were on target in one of the most lopsided games of this global event.
Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami took two wickets apiece while Arshdeep Singh and Bhuvneshwar Kumar shared a wicket each.
India finished on top of group 2 and will now play their fourth T20 World Cup semifinal (after 2007, 2014, 2016) against Jos Buttler’s England in Adelaide on November 10.
If Kohli on October 23 lit up the MCG with a knock for the ages, November 6 resembled a rock-concert where the length of Surya’s shadow grew with every passing stroke.
Zimbabwe pacer Blessing Muzarabani, after being hit for a couple of boundaries, had the ball slipped out of this hand on his run-up stride. He was basically shaken and nervous.
Indian cricket has seen a lot of supple wrists but malleable ones coupled with brute power are a rarity. Surya is indeed a rare breed.
On Sunday, he reaffirmed his status as world’s number one T20 batter with the help of six fours and four sixes.
