ICC World Cup: Rainas ton helps India maintain unbeaten record

Auckland Suresh Raina scored his maiden World Cup century as India beat Zimbabwe by six wickets in their last World Cup Group lsquoBrsquo match at Eden Park here on Saturday to enjoy a sixoutofsix matches winning streak in the league phaseSkipper MS Dhoni pulls Zimbabwersquos Tinashe Panyangara over backward square leg to win the last World Cup 2014 Group game for India at Eden Park Auckland on Saturday PicGetty ImagesRaina 110 not out off 104 balls 9x4s 4x6s and India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni 76ball 85 not out 8x4s 2x6s stitched up a 196run stand to ensure the defending champions overcame a toporder collapse mdash India were 492 at one stage chasing Zimbabwersquos 287 all out off 485 overs to reach the target quite comfortably in the end with eight balls to spareRaina however should have been back in the pavilion even before his half century had it not been for Hamilton Masakadza dropping him at short fine leg after he had topedged a sweep off Sikander Raza when on 47 The lefthander ensured skipper Brendan Taylor would rue the missed opportunity in his last game for Zimbabwe before he heads to Nottingham to become a Kolpak player ldquoWersquove dropped way too many catches in this tournament probably more than any other team and that has been disappointingrdquo Taylor who scored a fine century 110ball 138 15x4s 5x6s batting first said at the postmatch press conferenceDhoni meanwhile was all praise for his Chennai Super Kings teammate Raina ldquoItrsquos good to get a tough game in your last league encounter where your batsmen and bowlers are tested The knock by Raina was very crucial coming at No 5 because more often than not you donrsquot get such an opportunity to bat for long at that number You get in to bat maybe after the 38th or 39th over if your top order is batting well and you can only slog it out then so you play the big shot you get out donrsquot score too many runs and when you get into the knockout stages you want to have runs under your beltrdquo said Dhoni who stylishly pulled pacer Tinashe Panyangara for a six backward of square to end what seemed to be turning out to be a close contestDhoni said Raina also helped take some of the pressure off him at the other end ldquoYou canrsquot really miss out the fact that Raina batted so well at the other end and eased up the pressure from me and he has done it quite a few times We have also run well between the wicketsrdquo said DhoniSuresh Raina in full flow against Zimbabwe at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday PicAFPQuicksilver RainaRaina the fielder also ticked the right boxes in his captainrsquos book ldquoRaina is always running around during the fielding and that keeps him warm and charged up in these conditions but he also backs me up and the others when the ball is thrown at us These are small things that tend to get overlooked but can prove to be crucial in games in which big runs are scored or need to be chased So Raina does the small things well toordquo said DhoniTurning pointHamilton Masakadza will surely have nightmares of the moment he dropped Suresh Raina a laps that could have cost India the match India had just gone past 150 and the required rate was over nine an over when Raina batting on 47 topedged a sweep off the bowling of Sikandar Raza Masakadza at shortfine leg made a complete hash of the catch and enabled Raina to not only get his fifth ODI ton but also get India over the lineStar of the matchZimbabwe skipper Brendan Taylor plays a shot en route his 110ball 138 against India at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday PicGetty ImagesEveryone would want a fairytale ending to their career For most part of the game Brendan Taylor was on the right track to fulfill that dream Though he ended up on the losing side he made a majestic 138 off just 110 balls to take his side from a precarious 33 for 3 to a competitive 287 Though his bowlers let him down towards the end the effort from one of Zimbabwe cricketrsquos most loyal servants was one to remember