3 biggest partnerships in Zimbabwe vs India ODIs
India will be touring Zimbabwe for three One Day Internationals starting August 18. All the matches will be played at the Harare Sports Club. KL Rahul will be India’s stand-in captain as Rohit Sharma and some of the key players including Virat Kohli have been rested for this tour.
Just like other cricketing rivalries, even India-Zimbabwe on-field rivalries have been really special in the last two decades, with both teams giving each other a tough competition. Without further ado, here’s a look at three of them.
3. Andy and Grant Flower, 158 runs, December 2000
This is a very special partnership which happened at a time when Zimbabwe Cricket was at its peak and the Flower brothers were in the form of their lives. Andy and Grant blew away the Indian bowlers in the third ODI at Jodhpur. Chasing a mammoth 284, Zimbabwe were reduced to 58/3 before the Flower Brothers came to the rescue adding 158 runs for the fourth-wicket stand. While Andy score 77, Grant scored 70 and the partnership helped Zimbabwe get past the finish line with one ball to spare.
2. Stuart Carlisle and Sean Ervine, 202 runs, January 2004
Batting first, VVS Laxman’s outstanding 131 had powered India to a mammoth 280/7 in a tri-series encounter at the Adelaide Oval. The Men in Blue then had Zimbabwe on the mat at 46/3. However, Stuart Carlisle (109) and Craig Ervine (100) fought back valiantly and left the Indian bowlers in total disarray with a 202-run stand for the fourth wicket as it seemed that Zimbabwe will secure an easy win. Nonetheless, once both centurions were dismissed, Zimbabwe completely lost the plot and it was a case of ‘so near yet so far’ as they went down by three runs.
1. Ajay Jadeja and Mohammad Azharuddin, 275*, 1998
This remains the best-ever partnership in India-Zimbabwe ODIs and it was registered by two of greatest megastars of Indian cricket back in the 90s – Ajay Jadeja and the then captain Mohammad Azharuddin. The feat was achieved during the fifth match of the Pepsi Triangular series. India were in shambles at 26/3 having lost Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman and that is when Azharuddin and Jadeja staged a remarkable counter-attack. Both of them went on to score their respective centuries. While Mohammad Azharuddin remained unbeaten on 153, Ajay Jadeja was not out on 116, as their unbeaten 275-run stand for the fourth-wicket helped India post a mammoth 301/3, which proved to be as India won by 32 runs.
