IND ZIM ZIM 2nd ODI: Samson scores unbeaten 43 in India defeat Zimbabwe by five wicketsto gain an unassailable lead in the series

Harare 20th August : Sanju Samson hit an unbeaten 43 as India beat Zimbabwe by five wickets in the second ODI at the Harare Sports Club on the weekend.With the victory, India also take an unbeatable 2-0 advantage in the series of three matches with the game on Monday turning into dead rubber.

Chasing at 190, K.L.Rahuls opening spot was a disaster as he was lbw trapped plumb when he attempted to hit Victor Nyauchi.Shikhar Dhawan was quick and used his foot well to smash four boundaries that looked good.

However, he was smashed by an excellently-directed bounce by Tanaka Chivanga as he pulled but it was too big for his back and skidded to square leg.Ishan Kishan was beaten on his stumps from Luke Jongwe to depart cheaply.However, Shubman Gill, who was playing at three was at his most classy with his signature short-arm jab showing elegance with the off-side boundaries and slashing straight down the field with an entire face of the bat.Gills promising run was ended with a strike at 33, when he hit a top-edge off the slash straight towards deep third-man.From 97-4 in 14 overs, Hooda and Samson joined forces to get India to the finish line.

Samson scored Indias hundred by launching a ball in the space between cover and mid-off off Jongwe while Hooda ran a ball past the keeper to get another boundary in the 16th over.Samson was in his element, smacking Chivanga through the ground to create an edge before hammering Sikandar Raza in the next over in the same area for another four.

He then followed that up with a long-on slam for six.Following the time that Hooda knocked down Brad Evans for a boundary through the cover, Samson used his feet to knock the ball back to back sixes off Sean Williams in the 23rd over.On Williams slow ball, Samson danced down the pitch to slam it into the ground.

The next ball, Williams dropped short and Samson dropped flat over the fine leg for a sixth.Although Hooda was smashed by a yorker off Raza in order to stop the stand of 56 runs for the fifth wicket Samson ended the chase in fashion with massive six-over long-on to win the match and the series in Indias favor.Brief scores: Zimbabwe 161 out in 38.1 overs (Sean Williams 42; Ryan Burl 39 not out; Shardul Thakur 3-38, Deepak Hooda 1-6) lost to India 167-5 in 25.4 overs (Sanju Samson 43 not out, Shikhar Dhawan 33; Luke Jongwe 2-33, Sikandar Raza 1-16) by five wickets nr/bs.