Zimbabwe vs India 2013: 2nd ODI - Heroes of the Day

After winning the first ODI by six wickets, India and Zimbabwe squared off for the second game of the five-match bilateral series at the Harare Sports Club.

Put into bat by skipper Brendan Taylor, India were jolted early in their innings, slumping to 65/4 before a brilliant recovery in the middle overs and a late flourish from the tail that enabled them to post 294/8. The hosts wasted a solid start by their openers and suffered a mini-collapse before regaining some momentum in between. Their lack of experience, however, proved to be their bane once again, and they eventually finished at 236/9, losing by 58 runs and trailing 0-2 in the series.

Here are the Heroes for the Day:

Shikhar Dhawan (116 runs off 127 balls – 11 fours, 2 sixes; 1 catch)

The Delhi southpaw seems to be relishing his role as an opener. He started off cautiously, losing opening partner Rohit Sharma early, before adding 33 runs for the second wicket with skipper Virat Kohli (14). Shrugging off the dismissals of Kohli, Rayudu and the luckless Suresh Raina, Dhawan forged a magnificent 167-run stand for the fifth wicket with wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik to bail India out of trouble. He went on to score his third ODI century before being bowled by off-spinner Prosper Utseya; and during Zimbabwe’s chase, took a good catch to send back Sikandar Raza. Terrific stuff!