OTD| Vinod Kambli scored his famous second consecutive century against Zimbabwe in 1993

Mumbai has produced a pantheon of batting legends for India. One of them was Vinod Kambli. However, Kambli could not become as big as some of the other batters from Mumbai but he had an extraordinary start to his international career. On this day in 1993, he scored his second consecutive double-century against Zimbabwe in Delhi. 

Kambli owns the show in Delhi

The talented Vinod Kambli was fresh from his brilliant double century against England in the last Test in Mumbai. Immediately after that Test, India played a one-off Test series against Zimbabwe in Delhi. Mohammad Azharuddin won the toss for India and elected to bat first on a good batting wicket. 

However, India had a rocky start to the game as opener Manoj Prabhakar was dismissed early. But the in-form left-hander Vinod Kambli took charge after this early setback. He built an important partnership with Navjot Sidhu to put India in a comfortable position. After Sidhu’s departure, he batted alongside his friend and fellow Mumbaiker, Sachin Tendulkar. The dynamic pair of two immensely talented batters from Mumbai stitched another significant partnership for India. 

Kambli continued unperturbed as the English bowlers could not flinch him. He smashed a double century, his second in a row. Kambli ended up with 227 runs. This phenomenal knock from the left-hander propelled India to a massive total of 536 runs in the first innings. This first-innings total proved to be decisive for India as Zimbabwe got bundled out for 322 runs in their batting stint. 

Following this, India imposed a follow-on on the visitors. The second innings was much harsher for Zimbabwe as this time they could only manage to accumulate 201 runs. Anil Kumble was the pick of the bowlers for India with a 5-wicket haul and he was ably assisted by Maninder Singh who picked up 4 wickets. Eventually, India won the match comfortably by an innings and 13 runs. Vinod Kambli was awarded the Player of the Match for his match-winning double-century. 

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