Zimbabwe won an ODI against India only in their 14th match?
(19 March 2002)
When Zimbabwe took on India at Centurion Park in a day-night
match during the Standard Bank tri-series in 1997, the only Test
teams they had not yet beaten in the one-day arena were India,
the West Indies and South Africa. By the time the players walked
off the ground that night, they had whittled down that list to
two teams.
India won the toss and unsurprisingly elected to bat. Skipper
Sachin Tendulkar, going through a lean patch, pushed himself down
the order, but Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid did not exactly
set the stands on fire with their opening partnership of 25.
Tendulkar battled his bad form to hit 41 off 56 balls, while
Mohammad Azharuddin stroked 44 off 67.
Zimbabwe, however, managed to keep things tight, bowling the
Indians for only 216 in 48.4 overs. But after a spell of rain
between the innings, Messers Duckworth and Lewis collaborated to
set Zimbabwe a revised target of 171 in 34 overs, just over five
runs per over.
India looked to have the match well in hand when they took four
wickets for 55 runs. Aside from Grant Flower, none of the top
four batsmen could make it to double figures, and worse still,
they plodded along consuming valuable deliveries for their meagre
scores.
When Alistair Campbell was dismissed at 78 for six, the result
looked foregone. It was thus a rearguard action that Craig Evans
and Paul Strang mounted. Evans hit 43 off 47 balls, with a four
and three sixes, while Strang hit one four in making 31 off 42.
Evans was eventually dismissed, and even then, with the score on
149 for seven, India could have won the match. But Heath Streak
gave some much-needed support to Strang, and the latter responded
with a match-winning innings that saw Zimbabwe reach their target
with two balls to spare.
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