India defeated Zimbabwe in their final Group 2 T20 World Cup 2022 match in MCG on Sunday, November 6, 2022, to top the group and get a huge momentum going into the semi-finals where they will face England on November 10 in Adelaide.
Rohit Sharma won the toss and chose to bat first. Rishabh Pant came in for Dinesh Karthik. KL Rahul struck a brilliant 51 in 35 balls as India made 79 runs in the first 10 overs for the wicket of Rohit (15). Then Zimbabwe took some wickets in the middle overs as Virat Kohli (26), Rishabh Pant (3) and Hardik Pandya (18) got out.
Then it was Suryakumar Yadav, who provided the much-needed boost as he struck 61* in 25 balls with 6 fours and 4 sixes as India scored 107 runs in the last 10 overs and finished on 186/5 in 20 overs. Sean Williams picked 2/9 in his 2 overs.
In reply, Zimbabwe couldn’t manage a good start as Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh picked one wicket each in the first two overs and they were soon reduced to 36/5 in the 8th over. Ryan Burl (35) and Sikandar Raza (34) added 60 runs in quick time, but the collapse resumed after Burl fell to Ashwin.
In the end, Zimbabwe was bowled out for 115 in 17.2 overs as India won by 71 runs. For India, R Ashwin picked 3/22, while Hardik Pandya and Mohammad Shami took two wickets each.
India will now face England in the second semi-final on November 10 in Adelaide, while Pakistan and New Zealand will clash in the first semi-final on November 9 in Sydney.
The cricket fraternity was all praises for the Indian team and reacted on Twitter.
Here are the tweets:
