From KL Rahul to SKY: Top three performers from India vs Zimbabwe

It was another fine night of Indian cricket at Melbourne as the Men in Blue swarmed comfortably over Zimbabwe to clinch an emphatic win, heading hammer and tongs to the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup. Winning the toss, India opted to bat first and put on 186 on the cards while their bowlers did a phenomenal job in skittling Zimbabwe out for a paltry 115.

Here are our top three performers from India’s last group-stage encounter against Zimbabwe.

1. Suryakumar Yadav

This man has entered a different dimension of his own in the ongoing T20 World Cup and the kind of brilliance and swagger that he has batted with extended itself to another glittering chapter with a 25-ball-61 against Zimbabwe on Sunday. He came out to bat at a crucial stage and instead of going all guns blazing, right from the start, he placed his first half of the innings in a very calculated manner as wickets tumbled at one end. Once he got his eyes in, from thereon, it was sheer carnage. Combining well with Hardik Pandya, Yadav played some swashbuckling strokes and rained fire upon the clueless Zimbabwean bowlers, hammering them with a fiery 61, that also propelled India to a momentous 186.

2. KL Rahul

Despite a handful of slow starts, KL Rahul is slowly getting back to the groove and this was his second consecutive half-century. He started with fireworks early and got a good grip on the game once the first two overs were bowled. From thereon, it was madness, chaos and a handful of KL Rahul-signature flicks that led India’s charge and forged the important 60-runs stand with Virat Kohli for the second wicket. By the time Sikandar Raza had the better of him, he piled on 51 runs from just 35 deliveries.

3. Ravichandran Ashwin

The numbers would suggest that he pulled off an absolute stunner and honestly he did, but his highlight of the night was the big wicket of Ryal Burl who was giving India a hard time alongside Sikandar Raza as the duo put on 60 runs before Ashwin could find the line of the stumps. He cannoned his delivery straight through the defences of the burly Zimbabwean to bring them down to their knees, dealing a couple of telling blows to seal the contest in India’s favour. He would eventually finish with figures of 4-0-22-3.