India eclipse Pakistan to achieve historic milestone after sealing series against Zimbabwe

The Indian cricket team has eclipsed Pakistan to achieve a historic milestone after winning the 2nd ODI against Zimbabwe on Saturday and taking an unassailable 2-0 series lead in the 3-match series. The KL Rahul-led Team India won the 2nd ODI by five wickets after chasing down a target of 162 runs in just 25.4 overs at the Harare Sports Club. With the impressive victory, India went past their arch-rivals Pakistan and West Indies to become the first-ever team in the 50-over format to register the maximum consecutive wins, while playing away from home. 

This was India’s 11th straight victory over Zimbabwe in Harare, which began way back in 2013. Meanwhile, Pakistan previously held a record of a 10-match winning streak at the Sharjah stadium from 1989 to 1990. At the same time, West Indies also won 10 straight wins in Brisbane from 1992 to 2001. It is pertinent to mention that South Africa are also currently on a 10-match winning streak in East London, which started in 2013. 

Shardul Thakur led Team India's demolition of Zimbabwe

Coming back to the match, Team India’s pace attack, led by Shardul Thakur’s 3-wicket haul reduced Zimbabwe to 161/10 in the first innings. While Sean Williams scored the maximum of 42 runs for the home side, Ryan Burl remained unbeaten after scoring 39 runs off 47 balls. Meanwhile, the other five bowlers that were used by KL Rahul also registered one wicket each, and two wickets were run-outs.

Sanju Samson stars with 43 runs in 39 balls

India suffered a dismal start to the chase, as skipper KL was dismissed on only 1 run in the 2nd over. However, Shikhar Dhawan continued his explosive batting form and hit 33 runs in 21 balls to lead a major contribution with the bat. While Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan contributed with knocks of 33 runs and six runs, respectively, Sanju Samson hit three fours, four sixes and remained unbeaten on 43 runs off 39 balls to take India through to another ODI victory. 

The Men In Blue earlier claimed a 10-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the series opener last week, after chasing down the target of 190 runs in 31 overs. The opening pair of Shubman Gill and Shikhar Dhawan scored 82 and 81 runs respectively and clinched victory with all wickets in hand. Both teams will now lock horns in the 3rd ODI, which is scheduled to be played on Monday.