ICC World Cup : India Defeats Zimbabwe By Six Wickets , Wins All Six Matches In Pool B

14 March, Auckland

India beat Zimbabwe by six wickets in their final pool B ODI cricket match of the ICC World Cup in Auckland on Saturday.

India were in a spot of bother at 92 for four when skipper Dhoni joined Raina as the duo sealed the match with a defining unbeaten 196-run record stand for the fifth wicket off 156 balls. Raina, who scored his fifth ODI ton had nine fours and four sixes, in his innings.

Riding on Raina’s brilliant unbeaten 110 and an equally important 85 by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, India overhauled a commendable target of 288 for 4 wickets in 48.4 overs, recording their highest run chase in a World Cup match.

India finished with an all-win record in their six Group-B league matches thereby stretching their number of successive victories in the tournament to 10 over two editions surpassing Clive Lloyd’s West Indies’ record which stretched from start of 1975 Prudential Cup to the first match of 1983 edition in which it lost to India at Old Trafford.

Defending champion, India will now meet neighbours Bangladesh in the quarter-final at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on March 19.

President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Indian cricket team on their victory against Zimbabwe.

In a tweet, Mr Modi said, he could not catch up on the match but heard about the stellar performance by Te. am India.

In another match on Saturday, Australia registered an easy seven-wicket win over Scotland in Hobert to finish second in Pool A going into the quarterfinals of the cricket World Cup. Brief scores, Scotland: 130 all out in 25.4 overs -Australia: 133/3 in 15.2 overs.