T20 World Cup: Ashwin praises ‘free-spirited’ Suryakumar Yadav after India’s 71-run win over Zimbabwe | Cricket News – Times of India

MELBOURNE: Veteran India bowler Ravichandran Ashwin heaped praise on “free-spirited” Suryakumar Yadav, who played the match-winning unbeaten knock of 61 runs against Zimbabwe
In yet another breathtaking knock, Surya scored an unbeaten 61 from 25 balls, followed by superb bowling from the bowlers, which helped India (186/5) bundle out Zimbabwe for 115 to clinch a 71-run win in their final Group 2, Super 12 match of the ongoing ICC T20 World Cup at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Sunday.
India closed out the Super 12s with a comfortable win to top their group. They will play England in Thursday’s semifinal at Adelaide. With four wins out of their five matches, India have 8 points.
Surya’s stunning knock was decorated with six fours and four sixes. India were three wickets down when Surya and Hardik got together to build a 66-run partnership and take India past the 180-run mark.

Talking about Surya’s knock, Ashwin said, “He is free-spirited, he isn’t any spring-chicken even if he is relatively new to international cricket. As a bowler we always want runs to defend and he provides that. Some of the leg-sweeps he played were terrific.”
Ashwin excelled with a spell of 3/22.
“It felt good (to get those wickets) and obviously it helps improve the confidence. I am not for numbers; I do the process, and it felt nice,” Ashwin said in a mixed media zone.
The veteran bowler said that he watched the matches there and got some inputs.
Talking about returning to this venue next Sunday if India made it to the final, Ashwin said, “Well, I hope so. That would be good. We had a terrific first match (against Pakistan) here and it would be good to get a match like that again,” he replied.

Coming to India’s match against Zimbabwe, Men in Blue posted 186/5 in their 20 overs after opting to bat first. KL Rahul (51) and Virat Kohli (26) put a 60-run stand for the second wicket, but Sean Williams (2/9) squeezed some momentum out of India’s innings.
However, Surya made sure things finished with a flourish for India.