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India 'A' tied up an easy win over Zimbabwe Select on Friday, after another poor batting performance by Zimbabwe in their second innings (following-on) left India needing only 66 from their second innings to secure the match by 9 wickets. Zimbabwe began the final day on 15/1, needing to bat out the day to secure a draw, but some excellent bowling by Piyush Chalwa made sure that didn't happen. A 108-run partnership by Taibu and Sibanda early in the day had given Zim some hope, but Chalwa's four wickets for just 40 runs conceded proved to be the nail in Zimbabwe's coffin.

Zim struggled with both bat and ball in this match. Tatenda Taibu's 1st-innings 123 was a great way for him to mark his return to the side, and is a good indication of what Zimbabwe needs if they're to improve - experienced players. Unfortunately, there's no sign of anyone else returning to the side at the moment. Prosper Utseya and Vusi Sibanda also put in decent knocks along the way, but without much support from the rest of the side. With the ball, Zimbabwe were reasonably economical - great in a one-day game, but not so much in a 4-day game where you really need to bowl your opponents out, and in that area Zimbabwe struggled, allowing India to build a large 1st-innings lead that made India's eventual run-chase that much easier. Full scorecard below the cut.

The 2nd match begins in Bulawayo on Monday. Terence Duffin, who missed the first match with a cold, is expected to replace Tino Mawoyo, after Mawoyo failed to do much with the bat. Graeme Cremer is also expected to miss out after Zim's spinners struggled against the Indians.
India A 489 (Uthappa 88, Rainsford 3/82) & 69/1 (Pathan 39*, Brent 1/27), Zimbabwe Select 338 (Taibu 123, Chalwa 4/40) & 216 (Sibanda 69, Chalwa 4/30). India A win by 9 wickets, lead series 1-0 with 1 to play.

India A 1st innings
CA Pujara        c Chigumbura b Mpofu   8
AR Uthappa       c Rainsford b Utseya   88
PA Patel         c Brent b Chigumbura   67
M Kaif           c Taibu b Utseya       63
RP Sharma        lbw b Chigumbura       66
S Badrinath      c Taibu b Rainsford    62
IK Pathan        lbw b Mpofu            0
Piyush Chawla    c Taibu b Rainsford    58
VY Mahesh        c Taibu b Rainsford    10
RV Pawar         not out                21
VRV Singh        c & b Mpofu            26
        Extras  (lb 3, w 4, nb 13)      20					
        Total   (all out; 138 overs)    489

Fall of wickets: 1-56 (Pujara, 10.1 ov), 2-133 (Uthappa, 27.4 ov), 
3-201 (Patel, 49.2 ov), 4-274 (Kaif, 75.3 ov), 
5-331 (Sharma, 89.6 ov), 6-332 (Pathan, 94.1 ov), 
7-422 (Piyush Chawla, 122.2 ov), 8-430 (Badrinath, 128.2 ov), 
9-444 (Mahesh, 132.3 ov), 10-489 (Singh, 137.6 ov)

Bowling         O   M   R   W   Econ	
CB Mpofu        27  8   90  3   3.33    (3nb, 3w)
EC Rainsford    22  4   82  3   3.72    (6nb)
E Chigumbura    20  6   64  2   3.20    (2nb)
GB Brent        14  7   30  0   2.14	
P Utseya        32  2   126 2   3.93    (1nb)
AG Cremer       22  2   88  0   4.00	
S Matsikenyeri  1   0   6   0   6.00    (1nb)


Zimbabwe Select XI 1st innings
TMK Mawoyo       c Kaif b Mahesh            24
H Masakadza      b Pawar                    38
V Sibanda        c Kaif b Singh             12
T Taibu          b Piyush Chawla            123
S Matsikenyeri   b Piyush Chawla            21
EC Rainsford     b Mahesh                   0
E Chigumbura     lbw b Pathan               0
P Utseya         c Patel b Piyush Chawla    53
AG Cremer        c Patel b Pathan           13
GB Brent         not out                    15
CB Mpofu         b Piyush Chawla            0
        Extras  (b 5, lb 14, w 7, nb 13)    39					
        Total   (all out; 116.2 overs)      338	(2.90 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-45 (Mawoyo, 11.6 ov), 2-72 (Sibanda, 19.5 ov), 
3-82 (Masakadza, 22.6 ov), 4-129 (Matsikenyeri, 35.5 ov), 
5-135 (Rainsford, 40.6 ov), 6-136 (Chigumbura, 41.4 ov), 
7-264 (Utseya, 86.5 ov), 8-283 (Cremer, 93.4 ov), 
9-334 (Taibu, 112.2 ov), 10-338 (Mpofu, 116.2 ov)

Bowling         O     M    R    W    Econ	
IK Pathan       20    2    80   2    4.00   (11nb, 2w)
VY Mahesh       24    3    67   2    2.79   (1w)
RV Pawar        28    8    70   1    2.50	
VRV Singh       19    4    57   1    3.00   (2nb, 3w)
Piyush Chawla   22.2  2    40   4    1.79	
RP Sharma       3     0    5    0    1.66	


Zimbabwe Select XI 2nd innings (following on)
TMK Mawoyo      lbw b Singh             0
H Masakadza     c Patel b Pathan        8
V Sibanda       b Piyush Chawla         69
T Taibu         c Patel b Piyush Chawla 40
S Matsikenyeri  lbw b Singh             0
E Chigumbura    c & b Piyush Chawla     30
P Utseya        lbw b Sharma            18
AG Cremer       b Pawar                 6
GB Brent        not out                 13
EC Rainsford    b Pawar                 0
CB Mpofu        lbw b Piyush Chawla     3
        Extras  (b 4, lb 5, w 2, nb 18) 29					
        Total   (all out; 81.5 overs)   216	(2.63 runs per over)

Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Mawoyo, 0.5 ov), 2-15 (Masakadza, 12.3 ov), 
3-123 (Taibu, 37.1 ov), 4-124 (Matsikenyeri, 38.3 ov), 
5-127 (Sibanda, 41.4 ov), 6-173 (Chigumbura, 57.6 ov), 
7-191 (Utseya, 72.2 ov), 8-191 (Cremer, 73.3 ov), 
9-193 (Rainsford, 75.2 ov), 10-216 (Mpofu, 81.5 ov)

Bowling	        O     M    R    W    Econ	
VRV Singh       19.4  5    54   2    2.74   (14nb)
RV Pawar        15    2    46   2    3.06	
Piyush Chawla   21.1  8    30   4    1.41	
VY Mahesh       9     4    22   0    2.44   (1w)
IK Pathan       12    3    43   1    3.58   (4nb)
RP Sharma       5     0    12   1    2.40	


India A 2nd innings (target: 66 runs)
AR Uthappa  c Masakadza b Brent         7
IK Pathan   not out                     39
RP Sharma   not out                     16
        Extras  (w 5, nb 2)             7					
        Total   (1 wicket; 9.5 overs)   69 (7.01 runs per over)

Did not bat: CA Pujara, PA Patel, M Kaif, S Badrinath, 
Piyush Chawla, VY Mahesh, RV Pawar, VRV Singh 

Fall of wickets: 1-26 (Uthappa, 5.3 ov)

Bowling         O    M    R    W    Econ	
EC Rainsford    3.4  0    19   0    5.18    (2nb, 5w)
CB Mpofu        3    0    19   0    6.33	
GB Brent        3    0    27   1    9.00	
E Chigumbura    0.1  0    4    0    24.00