\n
1<\/span>\/13<\/p>\nT20 WC: ‘SKY’ stars as India beat Zimbabwe to set up England semi-final<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n\n
Show Captions<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
<p>Suryakumar Yadav hit a blazing unbeaten 61 as India set up a T20 World Cup semi-final against England by crushing Zimbabwe by 71 runs at a packed Melbourne Cricket Ground.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<p>India were flying at 87-1 but the loss of three quick wickets slowed them down before Yadav set the proceedings alight, smashing 6 sixes in his 25-ball blitz to steer them to 186-5.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<p>Zimbabwe lost two wickets for two runs in reply and were never in the hunt, capitulating in the 17th over in front of 82,507 fans. Ravichandran Ashwin took 3-22 for a rampant India.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<p>India finished at the top of Group 2 to tee up a last-four clash with England, who finished second in Group 1. The two sides face off at the Adelaide Oval on Thursday.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<p>Opting to bat, Rohit Sharma was just getting in the groove when he misjudged a pull shot and was out for 15, caught in the deep by Wellington Masakadza.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<p>Kohli, who became the highest run-scorer in T20 World Cup history last week, holed out on 26 to Ryan Burl, undone by the spin of Sean Williams.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<p>Rahul brought up an entertaining 50 with a six off Sikandar Raza but departed next ball trying for another, taken on the boundary by Masakadza for 51.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<p>Williams and Burl combined again to remove Rishabh Pant (3) before Yadav and Hardik Pandya (18) took India to good total.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<p>Zimbabwe’s chase got off to a horror start with Wesley Madhevere out first ball, flashing Bhuvneshwar Kumar to the covers, where Kohli hung on.<br \/><\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<p>It went from bad to worse when Regis Chakabva also fell without scoring, bowled by Arshdeep Singh to leave them on 2-2.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<p>Williams and skipper Craig Ervine put on 26 for the third wicket before both departed in the space of six balls.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<p>Raza and Burl came to the rescue as they put on 60 runs before Burl was bowled by Ashwin for a 22-ball 35.<\/p><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
“My plan is always clear. I’m not trying anything different. I bat the same way in the nets as well.”
Asked about his performance this year, Suryakumar said, “Feels really good, but coming out and starting from zero is what I always think when I come out to bat, and I’ll keep doing that. It’s good to see people come out and support us like this even after we’ve qualified.”
Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine said his team deviated from the positive approach that worked well for the side in the first half of the tournament, when it also stunned Pakistan.
“I think maybe we could have changed up a couple of other plans. Suryakumar was brilliant at the end, negated Richey’s wide yorkers, which was our main plan. We could maybe have changed our pace a bit more there.
“Leading up to the tournament, we went in looking to be positive at the top, but the last 2-3 games we kind of went away from there,” Ervine said.
Zimbabwe conceded as many as 79 runs in the last five overs after taking a few wickets.
“The ball was swinging, but to counter that we probably could have moved around a little bit, been more proactive.
“We mustn’t forget the work we did to get into the Super 12s. We’ll look to build on that. Our catching wasn’t so good in the last few games, but I know the boys worked really hard on that,” the Zimbabwe captain said. <\/div>\n