A Brendan Taylor century in his final match in one-day international cricket has guided Zimbabwe to a total of 287 in their World Cup clash against India.
The 29-year-old blasted 138 off 110 balls to push his side to a competitive score against MS Dhoni's men as he posted his seventh one-day international hundred on his last game for his country.
India won the toss and elected to field, and the decision from Dhoni appeared to be a good one as Mohammed Shami, Umesh Yadav and Mohit Sharma all bagged early wickets to leave Zimbabwe reeling at 33-3 in the 11th over.
However, the arrival of Taylor and Sean Williams calmed proceedings as the duo kept the India attack at bay and began to get the scoreboard moving again.
Both players were at ease at the crease as Taylor notched his half-century off 65 balls, while Williams was more aggressive as he found the boundary with regularity to notch his 50, which included three fours and three sixes.
Williams fell after making his 50 when he was caught and bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin, leaving Taylor to continue his assault as he became the aggressor in the innings.
Taylor blasted the ball around the park to quickly bring up his 50 partnership with Craig Ervine, and was able to reach his century off just 99 deliveries as he powered his team past the 200-run mark.
The 29-year-old wasn't done there as he continued to find the boundary, including dispatching Ravindra Jadeja for 25 in one over, before his innings was finally brought to an end when he was caught by Shikhar Dhawan off the bowling of Sharma for 138.
Ervine and Sikandar Raza added useful runs at the end of the innings, but Shami and Yadav regained their composure to ensure that Zimbabwe were unable to pass 300 as they bowled out for 287.
Simon Sinclair
