Harare:&nbsp;A clinical India clinched the&nbsp;three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe, pulling off another&nbsp;fine all-round show to crush the minnows by eight wickets for&nbsp;an unassailable 2-0 lead, here today.
<img title="India pacer Dhawal Kulkarni (second from right) celebrates the wicket of Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Chamunorwa Chibhabha (left) with teammate KL Rahul during the second ODI at Harare yesterday. PICs/AFP" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2016/jun/hararewin.jpg" alt="India pacer Dhawal Kulkarni (second from right) celebrates the wicket of Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Chamunorwa Chibhabha (left) with teammate KL Rahul during the second ODI at Harare yesterday. PICs/AFP" /> India pacer Dhawal Kulkarni (second from right) celebrates the wicket of Zimbabwe&rsquo;s Chamunorwa Chibhabha (left) with teammate KL Rahul during the second ODI at Harare yesterday. Pics/AFP
It was a dominant performance yet again from the new-look&nbsp;Indian side whose bowlers first skittled the hosts for a lowly&nbsp;126 in 34.3 overs and the batsmen hardly broke a sweat to get&nbsp;past the target in only 26.5 overs.&nbsp;
Chasing a modest 127, India's young openers Lokesh Rahul (33) and Karun Nair (39) put on a 58-run stand before Nair and Ambati Rayudu (41 not out) forged another 67-run second-wicket partnership to take India within sniffing distance. Manish Pandey (4) finished off the proceedings with a boundary to cover, India pocketing the win with 139 balls to spare.
<img title="India&rsquo;s Ambati Rayudu plays one on the off-side during his unbeaten 44-ball 41 against Zimbabwe at Harare yesterday" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2016/jun/rayudushot.jpg" alt="India&rsquo;s Ambati Rayudu plays one on the off-side during his unbeaten 44-ball 41 against Zimbabwe at Harare yesterday" />India&rsquo;s Ambati Rayudu plays one on the off-side during his unbeaten 44-ball 41 against Zimbabwe at Harare yesterday
If India manage a 'whitewash' by winning the third ODI on&nbsp;Wednesday, then it would be a hat-trick of series wins for the&nbsp;Indian teams, maintaining a clean slate in the African nation&nbsp;after their victories in 2013 and 2015.
If young leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal (3/25) broke the&nbsp;backbone of the Zimbabwe middle-order, it was Rayudu whose 41 off 44 balls to finish the game with a flourish.&nbsp;
With the target hardly posing any challenge, last match's&nbsp;centurion Rahul (33) added 58 runs in company of Nair&nbsp;(39 off 68 balls) for the opening stand. The Rayudu-Nair pair&nbsp;added 67 runs for the second wicket.
Nair, on his part, got much-needed confidence with some&nbsp;runs under his belt but the manner in which he played was more&nbsp;about self preservation on a slightly tricky track.&nbsp;
When Nair was finally gone trying to sweep a straight&nbsp;delivery from Graeme Cremer, India needed only two runs which&nbsp;Manish Pandey completed with a boundary.&nbsp;But it was Rayudu, who hit a flurry of boundaries --&nbsp;seven in all to finish the match with 23.1 overs to spare.&nbsp;
With ball darting around a bit, the Indian batsmen were&nbsp;cautious and Nair for one was lucky to get a reprieve when he&nbsp;edged one off Tendai Chatara only to find that the bowler had&nbsp;overstepped.
He celebrated his charmed life with a down the ground hit&nbsp;off the very next ball.
Nair also drove and pulled Chatara for a couple of&nbsp;boundaries to settle down into a good rhythm.
Chatara was also handed some rough treatment from Rahul&nbsp;who got a couple of boundaries with a cover drive and a cut&nbsp;shot. He also got a couple of boundaries off seamer Taurai&nbsp;Muzarabani.&nbsp;
Rahul looked solid for at least another half-century but&nbsp;he dragged one from Chamu Chibhabha onto his stumps. He had&nbsp;four boundaries in his 50-ball knock.&nbsp;
Rayudu, who was unusually subdued during his half-century&nbsp;in the first game, started with a couple of boundaries off&nbsp;Chatara followed by a couple of fours each off Elton&nbsp;Chigumbura and Chibhabha.&nbsp;
When Rayudu came into bat, Nair was on 22 but was on even&nbsp;keel with his junior partner by the time they reached the&nbsp;mid-30s score.
In the end, it was another lopsided contest that went&nbsp;India's way with skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni not needing to&nbsp;even wear his leg guards for the second time in a row.
Earlier, legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal picked&nbsp;three wickets as India produced&nbsp;another professional bowling effort to dismiss a fragile&nbsp;Zimbabwe batting line-up for 126.
Zimbabwe lost their last seven wickets for 20 runs to be&nbsp;bundled out in 34.3 overs. Indian pacers Barinder Sran (2/17)&nbsp;and Dhawal Kulkarni (2/31) performed their duties early on&nbsp;before leggie Chahal (3/25) joined the party in his second&nbsp;ODI.
It was another chilly morning at the Harare Sports Club&nbsp;and Dhoni, winning the toss for the second time in succession,&nbsp;expectedly put the opposition in.
Sran and Kulkarni got the ball to swing from the word go.&nbsp;
Zimbabwe chose to open with Hamilton Masakadaza (9) and&nbsp;Chamu Chibhabha (21) this time but the move did not work as&nbsp;lack of application from the top-order left them struggling at&nbsp;39/3 in 10 overs.
The experienced Vusi Sibanda gave the innings some&nbsp;momentum with a fighting 53 off 69 balls, but his fall led to&nbsp;a batting collapse. &nbsp;He shared a handy 67-run stand with Sikandar Raza (16 off 41) to take his side past the 100-run mark.
Chahal triggered the collapse by removing Raza and Elton&nbsp;Chigumbura (0) to be on a hat-trick. Thirteen balls later, the&nbsp;spinner sent back Sibanda to have Zimbabwe in further trouble&nbsp;at 107 for six.
Sibanda was the lone warhorse for Zimbabwe as he&nbsp;completed his 21st ODI half century. His knock comprised six&nbsp;fours and a six.&nbsp;
It was a fresh pitch used for this game but stroke-making&nbsp;remained difficult.
More than the conditions, the Zimbabwe batsmen had&nbsp;themselves to blame as they did not learn from the mistakes&nbsp;made in the opening game.&nbsp;
Number 11 Sean Williams did not come out to bat owing&nbsp;to a sudden finger injury.&nbsp;
The teams will now lock horns in the inconsequential third ODI on Wednesday.

A clinical India clinched the&nbsp;three-match ODI series against Zimbabwe, pulling off another&nbsp;fine all-round show to crush the minnows by eight wickets for&nbsp;an unassailable 2-0 lead at Harare on Monday

2nd ODI: India clinch series after crushing 8-wicket win vs Zimbabwe

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2nd ODI: India clinch series after crushing 8-wicket win vs Zimbabwe

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