Ajinkya Rahane and Murali Vijay have made half-centuries in a 112-run opening stand to send India to 8-271 against Zimbabwe in their second one-day international.

Stand-in skipper Rahane made 63 and Vijay 72 to give India a strong start after being put in to bat at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.

Ambati Rayudu then hit 41 at No.3 following his century in the first game but India didn’t fully capitalise on the platform built by the top three.

Seamer Neville Madziva claimed career-best figures of 4-49 for Zimbabwe after being called into the team.

India’s 271 should still be a stern challenge for Zimbabwe, who failed to chase down 255 in India’s victory in the first game of the three-match ODI series.

India

A. Rahane c Sikandar Raza b Chibhabha 63

M. Vijay c sub (Waller) b Madziva 72

A. Rayudu c sub (Waller) b Sikandar Raza 41

M. Tiwary c Vitori b Tiripano 22

R. Uthappa b Madziva 13

S. Binny c Sikandar Raza b Vitori 25

K. Jadhav c Mutumbami b Madziva 16

Harbhajan Singh not out 5

A. Patel c Sikandar Raza b Madziva 1

B. Kumar not out 0

Extras (13w) 13

Total (8 wkts, 50 overs) 271

Fall of wickets: 1-112 (Rahane), 2-159 (Vijay), 3-203 (Rayudu), 4-205 (Tiwary), 5-233 (Uthappa), 6-264 (Binny), 7-266 (Jadhav), 8-269 (Patel).

Did not bat: D. Kulkarni.

Bowling: Vitori 8-0-47-1, Tiripano 9-0-42-1, Madziva 10-0-49-4, Williams 5-0-23-0, Cremer 5-0-32-0, Chibhabha 5-0-27-1, Masakadza 4-0-26-0, Sikandar Raza 4-0-25-1.

Toss: Zimbabwe

Umpires: Simon Fry (AUS) and Jeremiah Matibiri (ZIM)

TV umpire: Langton Rusere (ZIM)

Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)