Riding on Shikhar Dhawan's well-crafted century, India won the second ODI match against Zimbabwe by 58 runs on Friday, taking a 2-0 lead in the five-match bilateral series.
Put into bat first, India received early jolt with four wickets falling in quick succession but Dhawan's 116 and Karthik 69 helped the team put up a respectable total of 294 for eight before restricting the host to 236 for nine.
Zimbabwe began the chase on a promising note with the top three batsmen - Visu Sibanda (55), Sikandar Raza (20) and Hamilton Masakadza (34) - giving a better start than the opponents. However, middle order gave up without much resistance, which eventually the turning point of the game.
It looked like India would wrap up the game easily at one point of time but Elton Chigumbara and Prosper Utseya gave a ray of hope though too proved late. The late onslaught by Chigumbara (46) and Utseya (52 not out) helped the team score 236 though for a losing cause.
Jaydev Unadkat ripped into the batting line up of Zimbabwe, taking the wickets of the openers before sending off tailenders - Brian Vitori and Kyle Jarvis. Amit Mishra, who took three wickets in the first match, took two more in the second match.
After being put to bat first, India started on a shaky note with opener Robit Sharma and Ambati Rayudu falling to Vitori for 1 and 5 respectively. Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina too gave away their wickets cheaply before opener Dhawan, who was dropped twice (at 14 and 70) and escaped in the fifth over from a no-ball, together with Karthik put up a good total on the board.
India lead 2-0 series lead after the win on Friday.
Zimbabwe and India will meet again in the third ODI at Harare Sports Club, Harare on Sunday (28 July).
