Openers'' poor form a worry for the team: Raina

Published Thu, Jun 03 10 09:09 PM

Harare, Jun 3 (PTI) Indian skipper Suresh Raina today blamed the batsmen in general and the openers in particular for the team''s back-to-back defeat against Zimbabwe in the ongoing tri-series here. "We didn''t bat well. We are not getting good partnerships from the openers. They didn''t get runs in last two games. Over all we did not bat well," a disappointed Raina said after the match. "We should have probably scored 260-270. We have to learn from our mistakes and perform well in the next game. Zimbabwe bowled really well," he added. After thrashing India in the tournament-opener by six wickets, Zimbabwe crushed the visitors yet again today as they chased down a paltry target of 195 with 11.4 overs to spare at the Harare Sports club. This defeat have jeopardised India''s chances to reach the final of the tri-series. The visitors will face Sri Lanka in a do-or-die battle on Saturday. "It is an important game for us. Sri Lanka have a very good side and we will have to play really good cricket. Let''s hope we play well," Raina said. His Zimbabwean counterpart Elton Chigumbura attributed the victory to the splendid bowling spell of Andy Blignaut and the opening partnership of Hamilton Masakadza and Brendon Taylor who forged 128 runs in 26.3 overs. "It''s a good comeback after the last game. Our bowlers bowled well, especially (Andy) Blignaut. His 10 overs for around 22 runs was outstanding. All the rest of the bowlers also bowled well," Chigumbura said. "We wanted the openers to give us a good start and they did. The opening partnership set the foundation and after that it was going to be easy to go after the bonus point," he added. Notching up his second successive Man of the Match award against India, opener Brendon Taylor said while he was happy with his effort, consistency remains a problem for him. "I am very happy with this performance after our dismal effort against Sri Lanka. Batting with Hamilton, I am always relaxed. He is a powerful hitter. For some reason I was ahead of him today. Consistency has been my biggest problem. If I can get another good knock, I would be happy," he said. PTI ATK PDS

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