Harare, July 25 (): Virat Kohli hit a scintillating century as India beat minnows Zimbabwe by six wickets in the first ODI to take a 1-0 lead in the five match series at the Harare Sports Club yesterday.
Chasing an easy victory target of 228, Indian skipper Virat Kohli made a quickfire 115 off 108 balls with thirteen fours and one six, well supported by debutant Ambati Rayadu who made an unbeaten 63 from 84 balls with four 4s. This was Virat Kohli’s 15th ODI century.
Both Virat kohli and Ambati Rayadu made 159 runs for the third wicket. India reached 230 for the loss of four wickets in 44.5 overs.
Earlier, India won the toss and put Zimbabwe to bat. Openers Vusi Sibanda and Sikandar Raza put on 72 for the first wicket in 21.5 overs. A quick-fire 43 from 34 balls by Elton Chigumbura at the end enabled Zimbabwe cross the 225-run mark. Chigumbura hit six fours and a six.Sikandar Raza struck a combative 82, top scorer for Zimbabwe innings. Mishra finished with figures of 3 for 43 in 10 overs.
Score Card
Toss: Won by India Put Zimbabwe to bat
Man of the Match: Virat Kohli 115 from 108 balls
Zimbabwe: 228 for 7 in 50 overs.
India: 230 for 4 in 44.5 overs
Score Board
Zimbabwe: 228 for 7 in 50 overs
| Batsman | Status | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s |
| Vusi Sibanda | lbw b Amit Mishra | 34 | 72 | 3 | 0 |
| Sikandar Raza | b Amit Mishra | 82 | 112 | 6 | 2 |
| Sean Williams | b Suresh Raina | 15 | 29 | 2 | 0 |
| Hamilton Masakadza | b Amit Mishra | 11 | 12 | 2 | 0 |
| Brendan Taylor (C) (W) | c Suresh Raina b Jaydev Unadkat | 12 | 15 | 1 | 0 |
| Malcolm Waller | b Shami Ahmed | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Elton Chigumbura | not out | 43 | 34 | 6 | 1 |
| Tinotenda Mutombodzi | c Shikhar Dhawan b Vinay Kumar | 8 | 7 | 0 | 1 |
| Prosper Utseya | not out | 8 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Jarvis | |||||
| Tendai Chatara | |||||
Extras: 13 (b – 2, w – 4, no – 7, lb – 0)
Fall of Wickets: 1-72 (V Sibanda, 21.5 ov), 2-105 (S Williams, 31 ov), 3-119 (H Masakadza, 33.4 ov), 4-162 (B Taylor, 38.4 ov), 5-166 (M Waller, 40.1 ov), 6-176 (S Raza, 43.1 ov), 7-205 (T Mutombodzi, 46.2 ov)
India Bowling:
| Bowlers | O | M | R | WKT | ECON |
| Vinay Kumar | 9 | 1 | 57 | 1 | 6.33 |
| Shami Ahmed | 10 | 1 | 45 | 1 | 4.5 |
| Jaydev Unadkat | 10 | 1 | 39 | 1 | 3.9 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | 10 | 3 | 33 | 0 | 3.3 |
| Amit Mishra | 10 | 1 | 43 | 3 | 4.3 |
| Suresh Raina | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
India: 230 for 44.5 overs
| Batsman | Status | Runs | Balls | 4s | 6s |
| Rohit Sharma | c Brendan Taylor b Elton Chigumbura | 20 | 40 | 2 | 0 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | c Malcolm Waller b Kyle Jarvis | 17 | 21 | 3 | 0 |
| Virat Kohli (C) | c Vusi Sibanda b Prosper Utseya | 115 | 108 | 13 | 1 |
| Ambati Rayudu | not out | 63 | 84 | 4 | 0 |
| Suresh Raina | c Sikandar Raza b Prosper Utseya | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Dinesh Karthik (W) | not out | 8 | 15 | 1 | 0 |
| Ravindra Jadeja | |||||
| Amit Mishra | |||||
| Shami Ahmed | |||||
| Vinay Kumar | |||||
| Jaydev Unadkat |
Extras: 7 (b – 0, w – 5, no – 1, lb – 1)
Fall of Wickets: 1-26 (S Dhawan, 6.3 ov), 2-57 (R Sharma, 13 ov), 3-216 (V Kohli, 41.3 ov), 4-216 (S Raina, 41.5 ov)
Zimbabwe Bowling:
| Bowlers | O | M | R | WKT | ECON |
| Kyle Jarvis | 8 | 0 | 40 | 1 | 5 |
| Tendai Chatara | 9 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 3.33 |
| Elton Chigumbura | 5 | 0 | 30 | 1 | 6 |
| Prosper Utseya | 10 | 0 | 34 | 2 | 3.4 |
| Tinotenda Mutombodzi | 7.5 | 0 | 65 | 0 | 8.3 |
| Sean Williams | 3 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 6 |
| Hamilton Masakadza | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 6 |
