Mahendra Singh Dhoni Welcomes Pressure Placed on India

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni welcomed the pressure placed on his team by Zimbabwe in their final cricket World Cup group match at Eden Park on Saturday. (Full World Cup Coverage | Standings)

Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor's 138 in his final game for his country helped set India a challenging 289 to win, a task made harder when the world champions lost four wickets before reaching the hundred mark.

Dhoni (85) and Suresh Raina (110) then added 196 in an unbroken partnership which ensuredIndia and co-hosts New Zealand are the only unbeaten teams going into the knockout stages. "I think it couldn't have been better," Dhoni told a news conference. (Taylor Looks Forward to New Challenge After World Cup)

"If it had been the last game of the league stage and you get an easy win you don't get a lot out of that.

"What was good was that the spinners were put under pressure and we lost quick wickets initially and that put our middle order under pressure so we gained a lot out of it."

Dhoni said Raina's innings at number five had been crucial. "More often than not you don't get an opportunity (at five)," he said.

"You get to bat maybe after the 38th, 39th over and you have to slog it out and you don't score too many runs. At the end of the day, when you get into the knockout you want to get runs under your belt.

"I would say it was a good game for us and all the batsmen were under pressure."