Related Links : ICC World Cup 2011 | World Cups Homepage | Scorecard of Australia Vs Zimbabwe at Ahmedabad
Defending Champions Australia had to work hard to defeat Zimbabwe in their Group A Match at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad yesterday evening. The Aussies had a cautious start with the bat having won the toss and they could only come up with a total of 262 for 6 but their bowlers came good to bowl out Zimbabwe for 171 to win the match by 91 runs.
For the Aussies, Opener Shane Watson top scored with 79 from 92 balls with 8 fours and a six while Michael Clarke was perhaps the only fluent batsman making a busy 58* from 55 balls with 4 fours. The Zimbabwean bowling and fielding was terrific right through the innings with the spin dominated attack putting the Aussies under a check. Christopher Mpogu who was the only fast bowler in the team did an impressive job as well.
The Zimbabweans initially threatened to get off to a good start in their chase but soon lost their way. By the 11th over, the Aussie fast bowlers were making serious inroads and Zimbabwe was out of the match when they were reduced to 44 for 4. There were a couple of brief partnerships for Zimbabwe which ensured that the Aussies were made to stretch to bowl them out. It took 46.2 overs for the Aussies to wrap up the match.
Mitchell Johnson was the pick of the bowlers as he got the ball to swing away in both the directions to take 4 for 19 in 9.2 overs. Brett Lee and Shaun Tait were also very good with their speeds and directions. The other positive for the Aussies was the bowling of Jason Krejza who took 2 for 28 in 8 overs. Watson got the Man of the Match award for his responsible knock of 79 along with a couple of slip catches.