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In the final Super 12s encounter of the T20 World Cup 2022, India humbled Zimbabwe at a jam-packed Melbourne Cricket Ground, courtesy a high-flying Suryakumar Yadav followed by a clinical bowling performance.

SKY, once again, made his mark on the biggest stage, tormenting the bowlers, en route to his match-winning fifty helping India score 186/5.

Meanwhile, in swinging conditions, Mohammed Shami led the charge with the ball. Ravichandran Ashwin also delivered a flurry of wickets towards the end as India won by 71 runs.

Another Rahul fifty

After winning the toss and electing to bat, Team India had a brisk powerplay, despite the wicket of captain Rohit Sharma. Zimbabwe battled hard in the early stages, but Virat Kohli and KL Rahul’s calmness set the platform for India at 46/1 in the powerplay.

Post that, KL Rahul upped the ante and once again came to the fore with a display of nonchalant sixes and crisp fours. In an innings that oozed class, the Indian opener crossed the 50-run mark for the second time in this T20 World Cup campaign.

Rahul entertained the Indian fans with six boundaries and helped the team take the driver’s seat in the final Super 12 clash.

Burl halts the party

Just when it seemed like the Indian team was in the ascendancy, Zimbabwe’s star all-rounder Ryan Burl had other ideas. Off Sean Williams’ bowling, Burl pulled off two outstanding catches to dismiss Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant, while Sikandar Raza dismissed Rahul at the other end, to put India in a spot of bother.

From 87/1 to 101/4, India lost three wickets and scored only 16 runs in 14 balls. Triple trouble!

Ekach vada, Surya dada

Every time India seems in trouble, one man stands out and delivers the goods to turn the tide back. Suryakumar Yadav, India’s top run-getter in T20Is this year, awed the entire cricketing fraternity with his mind-boggling display at the MCG on Sunday.

With innings that had everything from his repertoire - flicks, scoops (a lot of them) and drives - SKY toyed with the Zimbabwean bowlers, leaving the fielders bemused. What seemed to be a sluggish innings after Pant’s wicket, Suryakumar Yadav turned it into one to remember.

Scoring 61 runs off 25 balls, Suryakumar Yadav uplifted the Indian total to 186/5. The fifty was the fourth-fastest for India in the T20 World Cup.

MILESTONE ALERT! Suryakumar Yadav became the first Indian player to smash 1000+ runs in a calendar year in T20Is.

Indian pace quartet rampant at the ‘G’

With the ball dictating the pace early on in the run chase, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya, completely derailed the Zimbabwean innings even before they could assert themselves.

Both Bhuvneshwar and Arshdeep scalped a wicket in their first overs. Following the outstanding start, Shami compounded the problems for Zimbabwe with two top deliveries to break the backbone of the middle order. Pandya also joined the party, dismissing skipper Craig Ervine, and Zimbabwe were left reeling at 59/5 at the halfway stage.

Ashwin spins India into semis

Ryan Burl’s counter-attacking knock was too little too late but restored some pride for the Chevrons. The 60-run partnership along with Raza only delayed the inevitable. Ashwin then cleaned up the Zimbabwean lower-order batters, including Burl. He scalped three wickets in four overs, conceding only 22 runs. Mighty effective!

After topping the group, Rohit Sharma and Co. will go up against England in the T20 World Cup 2022 second semi-final at Adelaide on Thursday, November 10. Come on, Paltan! Two more games before we get our hands on the trophy.

Brief scores: India 186/5 after 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 61*, Sean Williams 2/9) beat Zimbabwe 115/10 after 17.2 overs (Ryan Burl 35, Ravichandran Ashwin 3/22) by 71 runs.