India outplayed Zimbabwe by 71 runs in their final Super 12 clash on Sunday (November 6) at Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) ahead of the semifinals. With the massive win, Rohit Sharma-led side also finished at the top of the points table in group 2 and also became the only team to win 4 out of its five matches in the group stage.

India had secured their place in the semifinals earlier in the day, when South Africa were booted out of the competition by Netherlands, also opening the door for Pakistan who grabbed the opportunity by defeating Bangladesh to qualify.

Batting first after winning the toss in front of a crowd over 82000 people, India piled up 186/5 courtesy Suryakumar Yadav's 61* and KL Rahul's 51. The former faced just 25 balls and smashed six fours and four sixes to light up the MCG.

Zimbabwe, in reply, were bowled out for 115 in the 18th over as R Ashwin took three wickets, while Hardik Pandya and Mohammad Shami picked up two each, with the rest of the bowlers Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Akshar Patel also grabbing a wicket each.

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India only lost to South Africa in the super 12 round, defeating Pakistan, Netherlands, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in the other encounters. They will now face England on November 10 at the Adelaide Oval for a spot in the final three days later.

The players expectedly were in great spirits and took to Twitter to express their joy after the game.