It hasn't been a good two months for India. They were knocked out of the second stage of the Twenty20 World Cup without registering a win, failed to defend a large total against Zimbabwe in the first game of the Micromax Cup, and have now suffered their first ever second consecutive loss to Zimbabwe. India now find themselves in the uncomfortably familiar position of having to win their next game (against Sri Lanka) to stay in the tournament, while Zimbabwe find themselves in the pleasantly unfamiliar situation of having one foot in the finals of a multi-nation tournament.
With the series moving to Harare, the thought was that the slow scoring forced by the Bulawayo wicket would be gone. But as India overcautiously tapped their way to 26 off the first 10 overs, it seemed that openers Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik had other ideas. Vijay was stumped for a painful 21 off 56 balls, and some bad running between the wickets soon had India in trouble at 95/5 after 27 overs. None of the upper or middle order batsmen had a strike-rate over 75, and it was only Ravindra Jadeja's 51 off 72 that saw India to a respectable total. He was lucky to survive two plumb appeals for LBW, but the Zimbabwean bowlers were all over India. Andy Blignaut conceded only 22 from his 10 overs; every bowler took at least one wicket (Greg Lamb took three), and none conceded more than 5 runs an over).
Zimbabwe started cautiously themselves, but once Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza settled in, they took the game away from India. Taylor brought up his 19th ODI half-century in his 100th match, and when he fell for 74 with the score reading 128/1 in the 26th over, the hard work was already done. By comparison, India were 94/4 at the same stage. Masakadza blasted two enormous 6s in his 66, and even though he and Charles Coventry were dismissed in quick succession, India were well and truly gone. Returning captain Tatenda Taibu hit the winning boundary to put Zimbabwe at the top of the league table, and leave India on the brink of elimination before the finals of a multi-nation tournament for the second time in two months.
It's harsh, but to say that India had an "off" day would be an understatement: the batting never clicked, the fielding was very subpar (save for Virat Kohli's brilliant catch to get Masakadza), and Zimbabwe exerted such control over their innings that the Indian bowling had no chance. Barring the loss to Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe have been the team of the tournament, and their case for a return to Test cricket has never looked better. To be fair, their success has come at home, and against an inexperienced Indian lineup; but conventional wisdom would dictate that even a second-string Indian team should not go down so soundly to Zimbabwe - twice. India's backs are to the wall against Sri Lanka, but they'll take strength from their previous victory against their Asian neighbors. At this point, it's all they've got left.