4th ODI Zimbabwe v India: Easy nine-wicket victory for India

India romped to a nine-wicket win in the fourth one-day international against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo on Thursday to underline their superiority in the five-match series.

The tourists raced to the modest target of 145 with nearly 20 overs to spare after skittling the Zimbabwe top order and bowling out the home side for 144 at Queens Sports Club.

Only an unbeaten half-century from Elton Chigumbura saved Zimbabwe from a more emphatic defeat.

India have won all four ODIs in the series by a comfortable margin.

Suresh Raina scored 65 not out and Robin Sharma an unbeaten 64 as India chased down the target in 30.5 overs for the loss of only debutant Cheteshwar Pujara.

"There was something in the wicket early on and we sought to extract that, and the bowlers did that to good effect," India captain Virat Kohli said.

Debutant Mohit Sharma took the first wicket in the seventh over and there was a steady procession of batsmen back to the pavilion thereafter as Zimbabwe slumped to 47 for five in just the 16th over.

Chigumbura and Malcolm Waller restored some pride, though at a pedestrian pace, with their 80-run partnership taking more than 20 overs.

Waller was eventually caught behind off Mohit Sharma for 35 but Chigumbura went on to reach 50 just before the last wicket fell.

In reply India began sluggishly, but once Pujara departed Raina and Robin Sharma sought to finish off proceedings early.

"It was all about giving the guys who haven't had a decent bat time in the middle and a chance to give it a go," Kohli said.

A fourth successive hammering, albeit from the world champions, left Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor perplexed.

"It's frustrating on a pretty good batting wicket (not to make runs)," he said at the post-match presentation.

"We can't find the answers. We've done the hard work in practice but come up short again. It's got to be the mental side weighing us down."

The final match of the series is at the same venue on Saturday.

INDIA INNINGS

India went 4-0 up defeating Zimbabwe by an easy nine wickets in the fourth ODI at Bulawayo.
 
Chasing a meager 145 to win, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina struck unbeaten half centuries as India overhauled the target in 30.5 overs.

After debutant Cheteshwar Pujara did not make best use of his opportunity to score just 13, Sharma (64 not out) and Raina (65 not out) shared an unbroken 122-run partnership to guide India home to an easy win.

Sharma, Raina made good use of the batting powerplay racing to victory in 30.4 overs. India lead series 4-0.

Partnership crosses 100. India need 12 runs to win. 133-1 in 30 overs.

Both Sharma and Raina get to their half centuries in the same over. Ind 116-1 in 28 overs.

Raina and Sharma taking India closer to victory. Ind 108-1 in 27 overs.

Great going for India as they reach 100 in 25.2 overs.

Raina enters 40s. Sharma on 35. Ind 90-1 in 23 overs.

Three runs from the over. Ind 87-1 in 22 overs.

Boudaries coming frequently now. Ind 84-1 in 21 overs.

The partnership between Sharma and Raina crosses 50. India just needs 67 runs now. Ind 78-1 in 20 overs.

Raina gets boundary. Ind 71-1 in 19 overs.

Good running between the wickets from the two. Ind 65-1 in 18 overs. 

A fine partnership building between Raina and Sharma. It has reached 37 already. Ind 60-1in 17 overs.

After 16 overs, India are 57-1. They need just 88 runs now.

India cruising smoothly. Required runrate is below three. Zim 50-1 in 14 overs.

Both Raina and Sharma using their feet perfectly to get a boundary each. Ind 44-1 in 13 overs.

Raina scores a confident boundary. He will look to spend time in the middle. Ind 34-1 in 12 overs.

That was a beauty from Chatara. Pujara makes an early exit. Ind 23-1 in 10 overs.

C Pujara b Chatara 13 (24b 2x4 0x6)

Some good fielding from Zimbabwe. Ind 23-0 in 9 overs.

Pujara gets another cracking boundary. Ind 21-0 in 8 overs.

Maiden over from Vitori. Ind 15-0 in 7 overs

Indian openers going steady. They don't really have to rush. Ind 15-0 in 6 overs.

A boundary from Sharma breaks the monotony. Ind 12-0 in 5 overs.

Another good over with just one run again. India 7-0 in 4 overs.

Only one run from Vitori's over. Indian openers taking it easy here. Ind 6-0 in 3 overs.

A classy cut from Pujara runs to the ropes. Ind 5-0 in 2 overs.

Pujara debuts for India. Ind 1-0 in 1 over.

ZIMBABWE INNINGS

Earlier, Amit Mishra claimed three wickets while debutant Mohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja scalped two each as India restricted Zimbabwe to a modest 144 in 42.4 overs.

Thanks to a 80-run stand between Malcolm Waller (35) and Elton Chigumbura, Zimbabwe managed to reach a respectable score after they were left tottering at 47-5 at one stage.

Chigumbura went on remain unbeaten scoring a fighting 50 from 66 deliveries including four boundaries.

Mishra takes three as Kohli picks up a great catch at slip. CHigumbura remained unbeaten on 50. Zimbabwe all out for 144 in 42.4 overs.

M Chinouya c Kohli b Mishra 0 (1b 0x4 0x6)

Chigumbura played a great knock but Mishra picks his second wicket to end Vitori. Zim 143-9 in 42.3 overs.

B Vitori b Mishra 8 (6b 0x4 1x6)

A welcome six from Vitori. Zim 142-8 in 42 overs.

Chigumbura watches from the other end as wickets fall. This time Chatara goes. 133-8 in 41 overs.

T Chatara c Jadeja b Mishra 1 (6b 0x4 0x6)

Shami gets his first wicket today. Utseya goes cheaply. Zim 130-7 in 39-2 overs.

P Utseya c R Sharma b Mohammed Shami 1 (12b 0x4 0x6)

A maiden over from Sharma. Zim 129-6 in 39 overs.

Chigumbura is joined by Utseya. The score is certainly not sufficient at this stage. Zim 129-6 in 38 overs.

It's been a great debut for Mohit Sharma. Ends the partnership to remove Waller. Zim 127-6 in 37 overs.

M Waller c Karthik b M Sharma 35 (77b 3x4 1x6)

11 runs for that over. Chigumbura gets aggressive as battting powerplay is on. Zim 122-5 in 36 overs.

Chigumbura is on 35. ZIm 111-5 in 35 overs.

It's been quite a while since Zimbabwe has seen a boundary. Just two runs from the over. Zim 101-5 in 33 overs.

Waller has faced 62 balls to score 22 while Chigumbura has played 42 deliveries for 29. They need to accelerate a bit. Zim 99-5 in 32 overs.

A good partnership building here. It crosses 50. Zim 98-5 in 31 overs.

Chigumbura steps out  to hammer a boundary. A rare sight to see in Zimbabwe batsmen. Zim 88-5 in 29 overs.

Pace attack returns, Mohit Sharma comes to bowl. Zim 88-5 in 28 overs.

Partnership reaches 35, but it's coming very slowly. Zim 82-5 in 27 overs.

Waller gets a boundary after a long time. Zim 79-5 in 26 overs.

Jadeja bowls a maiden over. Zimbabwe can't keep doing this for long. They need to search for some quick runs. Zim 72-5 in 24 overs.

Good over from Mishra. Zim 72-5 in 23 overs.

Only one run from the Jadeja's over. Zim 70-5 in 22 overs.

Mishra bowls his first over. Gives five runs. Zim 69-5 in 21 overs.

A boundary from Chigumbura. An important partnership building here. Zim 64-5 in 20 overs.

Good to see some confident shots coming off the bat. Zim 59-5 in 19 overs.

Chigumbura gets a boundary. Zimbabwe need a big partnership which looks to be a difficult task. Zim 54-5 in 18 overs.

Just one run. Zim 49-5 in 17 overs.

Jadeja strikes again and this time an important wicket of Sibanda. It looks very much like end of road for Zimbabwe. Zim 48-5 in 16 overs.

V Sibanda b Jadeja 24 (75m 45b 3x4 0x6)

Another wicket tumbles. Williams goes for a duck. Zimbabwe is losing its way. Zim 47-4 in 15 overs.

S Williams b Unadkat 0 (2b 0x4 0x6)

Jadeja picks his first wicket in his very first over. Zimbabwe looks to be in trouble here. Zim 44-3 in 14 overs.

B Taylor lbw b Jadeja 0 (9b 0x4 0x6)

A fine boundary from Sibanda. Zim 43-2 in 13 overs

A maiden over.Sibanda will be important today for Zimbabwe. He needs to get a big score. Zim 36-2 in 12 overs

A positive start comes to an end. Masakadza is run out. Terrible mess for Zimbabwe. Excellent throw from Jadeja. Zim 36-2 in 11 overs.

H Masakadza run out 10 (15b 0x4 1x6)

Masakadza gets on the aggressive. Smashes a fine six off Shami. Zim 35-1 in 10 overs.Sibanda is holding it firm. Zim 28-1 in 9 overs.

The first international wicket for Mohit Sharma. Raza departs. Zim 17-1 in 7 overs.

Sikandar Raza c Karthik b MM Sharma 7 (17b 1x4 0x6)

Sibanda gets going with a boundary. Zim 16-0 in 6 overs.The first boundary finally comes. A fine square cut from Raza. Zim 12-0 in 5 overs.

Sibanda opens his account after facing 16 deliveries. Zim 7-0 in 4 overs.

Just two runs from the over. Zim 5-0 in 3 overs.

Slow start from the openers. Zim 3-0 in 2 overs.

Sibanda and Raza open for India. Mohit Sharma bowls for India. Zim 1-0 in 1 over.

Playing XI:

Zimbabwe:  V Sibanda, Sikandar Raza, H Masakadza, B Taylor, S Williams, M Waller, E Chigumbura, B Vitori, P Utseya, M Chinouya, T Chatara.

India: R Sharma, C Pujara, V Kohli, D Karthik, S Raina, A Rayudu, R Jadeja, A Mishra, Mohammed Shami, M Sharma, J Unadkat

Having already won the series with an unassailable 3-0 lead, India can try their bench strength when they take on Zimbabwe in the 4th one-day Interntaional at Bulawayo.

The Indians may look to rest some of the key players and give an opportunity to Cheteshwar Pujara, Parveez Rasool, Mohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane as they have not played a single match in the series.