Match Number 1 : India vs Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on 28.05.10 : Zimbabwe won by six wickets

Thia game witnessed two debutant captains – India was led by SK Raina who became the 20^th captain to lead India in one day games. Zimbabwe was led by E Chigumbara who became the 15^th captain to lead Zimbabwe in one day games.

India capped AB Dinda, R Vinay Kumar and U Yadav for this game. With these three cricketers making their one debut, the number of cricketers who have played for India in one day games stood at 184.

Apart from India’s inaugural game against England at Leeds on 13.07.74 when the Indian team contained eleven debutants, there are ten occasions when India has capped three or more cricketers in a one day game including this game. This game gains importance as in this game all the three debutants are new ball bowlers

Out of these eleven occasions, only on two occasions the debutants did not bat – against Kenya at Nairobi {Gym} on 03.10.00 {V Dahiya, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh} and against Zimbabwe at Bulawayo on 28.10.00 {R Vinay Kumar, AB Dinda and U Yadav}

M Vijay became the fourth Indian opening batsmen to be dismissed run out against Zimbabwe in one day games. The complete list read thus – NS Sidhu for 45 at Pune on 25.03.93, SR Tendulkar for 5 at Vadodara on 05.04.98, SC Ganguly for 86 at Mohali on 10.03.02 and M Vijay for 11 at Bulawayo on 28.05.10. Thus M Vijay became the first Indian opening batsman to be dismissed run out against Zimbabwe on away soil.

V Kohli was run out in this game without facing a delivery providing the 12^th occasion of an Indian batsman dismissed in such a manner. Kohli is the first Indian batsman to suffer such an ignominy against Zimbabwe.

V Kohli became the seventh batsman to be dismissed run out without facing a delivery against Zimbabwe. The other six are – TT Samaraweera of Sri Lanka at Sharjah on 10.11.98, LR Williams of West Indies at Perth on 02.02.01, Habibul Bashar of Bangladesh at Harare on 07.04.01, RR Sarwan of West Indies at Bulawayo on 22.11.03, Enamul Haque Jnr of Bangladesh at Chittagong on 24.01.05 and MN Samuels of West Indies at Port of Spain on 13.05.06

With M Vijay and V Kohli dismissed run out in this game the number of Indian batsmen dismissed run out against Zimbabwe stands at 36. V Kohli is the third Indian batsman dismissed run out for zero against Zimbabwe. The other two are – SB Joshi at Sharjah on 11.11.98 and R Vijay Bharadwaj at Guwahathi on 19.03.02

RG Sharma and RA Jadeja added 132 runs for the fifth wicket providing the 29^th occasion of Indian batsmen posting a three figure partnership against Zimbabwe. This stand represents the fourth occasion of a fifth wicket three figure partnership posted by Indian batsmen against Zimbabwe. The other four occasions are – 158 runs between D Mongia and Yuvraj Singh at Guwahathi on 19.03.02, 118 runs between VVS Laxman and RS Gavaskar at Adelaide on 24.01.04 and 103 runs between MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh at Harare on 29.08.05

RG Sharma and RA Jadeja added 132 runs for the fifth wicket providing the 294^th occasion of Indian batsmen posting a three figure partnership against various oppositions. India holds the record for posting most number of three figure partnerships in one day games. Australia stands second with 292 three figure partnerships..

RG Sharma scored his maiden one day hundred when he made 114 in this game. It was an improvement over his previous highest score of 70 not out against Sri Lanka at Canberra on 12.02.08. His knock contained four sixes providing the first occasion of his scoring four sixes in a one day innings. His knock contained six fours providing the third occasion of his scoring six boundaries in a one day innings. The other two occasions are – six fours in his knock of 70 not out vs Sri Lanka at Canberra on 12.02.09 and six fours in his knock of 66 vs Australia at Sydney on 02.05.08

RG Sharma’s 114 in this game represent the 174^th hundred by an Indian batsman in one day games. His knock also represents the 17^th hundred by an Indian batsman against Zimbabwe in one day games.

RA Jadeja’s 61 not out in this game represent his third half century in one day game and is his highest score in one day games. His other two half centuries were – 60 not our vs Sri Lanka at Col-RPS on 08.02.09 and 57 vs Australia at Guwahathi on 08.11.09.

With his 67 not out in this game CR Irvine became the seventh Zimbabwean batsman to score a fifty on one day debut. Others are – DAG Fletcher {69* vs Australia at Nottingham on 09.06.83}, A Flower {115* vs Sri Lanka at New Plymouth on 23.02.92}, GJ Crocker {50 vs India at Harare on 25.10.92}, MH Dekker {79 vs New Zealand at Bulawayo on 31.10.92}, V Sibanda {58 vs West Indies at Bulawayo on 22.11.03} and T Duffin {53 vs Kenya at Bulawayo on 28.05.10}. CR Ervine is the second Zimbabwe batsman to score a fifty on debut against India

On the global table CR Ervine became the 81^st batsman to score a fifty on one day debut.

CR Ervine became the tenth batsman to score a fifty on debut against India. The others are – MD Moxon of England {70 at Nagpur on 23.01.85}, Younis Ahmed of Pakistan {58 vs Kolkata on 18.02.87}, GJ Crocker of Zimbabwe {50 at Harare on 25.10.92}, SP Fleming of New Zealand {90 at Napier on 25.03.94}, Mazhar Hussain of UAE {70 at Sharjah on 13.04.94}, SC Williams of West Indies {61 at Faridabad on 17.10.94}, SO Tikolo of Kenya {65 at Cuttack on 18.02.96}, Mohammad Tauqir of UAE {55 at Dambulla on 16.07.04} and LJ Wright {50 at The Oval on 05.09.07}. CR Irvine is the only batsman to score an unbeaten fifty on debut against India

RG Sharma’s 114 in this game was in a losing cause providing the 50^th occasion of an Indian batsman’s hundred going in vain in one day games. India became the only team in the one day games to have 50 hundreds in a losing cause

RG Sharma became the second Indian batsman to witness his hundred going in vain against Zimbabwe after SR Tendulkar whose 146 at Jodhpur could not win the game for India

RG Sharme became the sixth batsman to witness his hundred going in vain. The complete list read thus – RS Mahanama of Sri Lanka {108 at Harare on 05.11.94}, Mehrab Hossain of Bangladesh {101 at Dhaka on 25.03.99}, SL Campbell of West Indies {105 at Chester-le-Street on 16.07.00}, SR Tendulkar of India {146 at Jodhpur on 08.12.00}, S Chanderpaul of West Indies {127* at Harare on 30.11.07} and RG Sharma of India {114 at Bulawayo on 28.05.10}

RG Sharma’s 114 in this game was in a losing cause providing the 263^rd occasion of a batsman’s hundred going in vain the history of one day games.

R Vinay Kumar captured two wickets on his debut while the other two debutants – AB Dinda and U Yadav – failed to capture a wicket

Zimbabwe’s win by six wickets in this game provides its 96^th one day win and also its ninth win against India.