Skipper Virat Kohli century and an unbeaten fifty of debutant Ambati Rayudu helped India thrust a six-wicket win over Zimbabwe in the first of the five-match ODI series at the Harare Sports Club on Wednesday.
On a green pitch, Kohli won the toss and elected to field.
Ambati Rayudu and pacer Jaidev Undadkat made their international debuts with this match.
Playing first Zimbabwe batsman sat the target of 229 in 50 overs. Zimbabwe's innings was held together by a patient Sikandar Raza, who made 82 runs. Elton Chingumbura provided the fireworks with an unbeaten 43 off 34 balls.
Amit Mishra was the most successful Indian bowler, who took 3 wickets.
India made 230 for four with 31 balls to spare after Virat Kohli struck 115, his 15th ODI century, and Rayudu remained unbeaten on 63.
It wasn't a stiff target to chase, but India lost in-form openers Shikhar Dhawan (17) and Rohit Sharma (20) inside 13 overs with 57 runs on the board.
Kohli then took the center stage and stitched a 159-run stand for the third wicket that put India on the threshold of a win.
Kohli was in good touch right from the start and took 57 balls for his 50. His 108 came up in 113 balls and was studded with 13 boundaries and a six. Kohli fell while trying to hit out Propser Utseya, only to find Vusi Sibanda at long-on. Suresh Raina lasted two balls and failed to open his account before becoming Utseya's second victim in the same over.
Rayudu, who made his international debut after 10 years of his first A tour, impressed with his stroke play. He struck four fours in his 84-ball innings and took the team home safely with Dinesh Karthik, who was not out on eight.
In the post-match interview Virat Kohli said, "Happy with the win. Always good to kick off a tour with a win and personally I was happy with the way I played. The ball was moving around a bit early on and it was all about percentage cricket, rotating the strike and then playing your shots at the end".
Kohli was all praise for Rayudu, who made his international debut 10 years after his first A tour.
"Congratulations to Ambati Rayudu, he's got an India call-up after a long time and he's grabbed his opportunity very well," said Kohli.
Kohli also had a word of praise for his bowlers.
"Our bowlers did a very good job up front. The new ball was doing quite a bit in the morning and with two new balls you can't count any team out," he said.
Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor said his side could have been more proactive.
"First hour was vital, We didn't lose any wickets but we could have been a bit more proactive. Against a quality side like India we needed 270 on the board. Sikandar Raza played very well, showing good composure despite having hardly played any games. Prosper Utseya was good with the ball and hopefully next time we can come out and express ourselves a little better," he said.
Virat kohli was awarded Man of the Match.
The following is the scoreboard of the first ODI between India and Zimbabwe:
Zimbabwe
Vusi Sibanda lbw b Mishra 34
Sikandar Raza b Mishra 82
Elton Chigumbura not out 43
Extras (b 2, lb 7, w 4) 13
Total (50 overs) 228/7
Bowling
Amit Mishra 10-1-43-3
Vinay Kumar 9-1-57-1
Mohammed Shami 10-1-45-1
India
Virat Kohli c Sibanda b Utseya 115
Ambati Rayudu not out 63
Extras (lb 1, w 5, nb 1) 7
Total (44.5 overs) 230/4
Bowling
Prosper Utseya 10-0-34-2
Kyle Jarvis 8-0-40-1
(with inputs from IANS)
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