Opener Shikhar Dhawan capitalised on sloppy bowling and fielding by the Zimbabweans to hit his third ODI century as India recovered from early jolts to post a daunting 294 for eight in their second one-dayer here today.
Dhawan, who got at least three lives, struck 116 from 127 balls and shared 167 runs with Dinesh Karthik (69) for the fifth wicket to take India to a big total after they were reduced to 65 for four in the 17th over at the Harare Sports Club.
The Zimbabweans, who put the visitors in, spilled regulation catches and their wayward bowlers conceded 28 extras. Dhawan was dropped twice when on 14 and 70 and the Indian also benefited from a no-ball by Kyle Jarvis in the fifth over when he had added just three runs to his name.
The 27-year-old Indian, however, hung on and hit his third ODI ton in his 17th match to save the Indians the blushes. He hit 11 fours and two sixes.
Karthik played his part with a composed 74-ball innings which was studded with six fours as the duo denied the Zimbabweans any success for 25.4 overs.
India ended their innings in style with tail-enders Vinay Kumar (27 not out) and Mohammed Shami (6 not out) scoring 23 from the last over with the help of three sixes and a four.
Captain Virat Kohli, who hit a match-winning hundred in the first match two days ago, could only score 14 runs while the other opener Rohit Sharma (1), Ambati Rayudu (5), Suresh Raina (4) and Ravindra Jadeja (15) were also out cheaply.
The Indian innings was marred by Kohli's face-off with on-field umpires after he was given out to a controversial catch in the seventh over. He stood his ground even as Zimbabwe sought a review as the fielder -- Malcolm Waller -- was not sure whether he had caught the ball cleanly or not.
Kohli refused to leave even after the third umpire adjudged him out. He argued his case once again with the umpires who confirmed the decision. Eventually, a visibly upset Kohli reluctantly walked back to the pavilion.
All Zimbabwean bowlers were expensive except for Brian Vitori who had figures of 2/27 from eight overs.
