India's current tour of Zimbabwe has parallels with the visit to the Southern African country for a tri-series in 2010 - a squad filled with newcomers led by a stand-in captain. Three years ago, that young Indian team had found the tri-series to be a taxing trek, losing three of four matches to crash out before the finals. This time around, though, it has been a casual stroll to a series victory, confirmed by an utterly one-sided third ODI which Zimbabwe lost by seven wickets.
Teams winning the toss have enjoyed a huge advantage in this series, and today was no different as Virat Kohli called correctly and watched his bowlers wipe out Zimbabwe for 183. Even reaching that meagre score reflected a recovery for Zimbabwe, who had been at 89 for 6 in the 23rd over, and still had three tailenders to come who had shown little aptitude for batting. Amit Mishra's variations fetched him four wickets, and the chase was orchestrated by Kohli, who continues to find ODI cricket exceedingly easy.
The winter pitch at the Harare Sports Club has followed the same pattern in every match this series: assisting the seamers appreciably in the first hour before gradually easing up. Vusi Sibanda clearly hadn't learnt that, though, charging out of the crease and attempting a wild heave in the first over itself, predictably edging a catch towards extra cover. After that Vinay Kumar strike, it was Mohammed Shami's turn to break through, on his first ball as well, getting Sikandar Raza to nick to the keeper.
With the ball hooping around, Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza survived a bunch of lbw calls and were routinely beaten but made sure no further wickets went down. Taylor could have been run-out a couple of times but he didn't attempt any risky shots, the first sign of enterprise being a controlled pull for four off Vinay in the ninth over. Masakadza was content driving through the off side, didn't play across the line much, and the pair shepherded Zimbabwe to the relative security of 67 for 2 in the 16th over.
The first hour had been seen off, and Zimbabwe were looking forward to more comfortable batting conditions. However, Jaydev Unadkat, India's best seamer in the previous game, ended the stand getting Taylor to chip a catch to mid-off.
Then, the Indian spinners took over. Zimbabwe have poked and prodded against the turning ball, regularly beset by doubts over how much the ball will spin and in which direction.
Mishra's mix of legspinners, googlies, sliders and seam-up deliveries have proved too much for Zimbabwe and he has prospered in his first stint in the ODI team in two years. He continued to enjoy himself today as in his first over, he trapped Masakadza and Malcolm Waller lbw to be on a hat-trick. He didn't get one but the double-blow wrecked Zimbabwe's chances of making a big score.
Sean Williams and Prosper Utseya arrested the slide with a 36-run stand but Williams seemed to lose his composure once Utseya fell in the 33rd over. He looked to take as much of the strike as he could, given that Tendai Chatara, Brian Vitori and Michael Chinouyi are not known for their batting skills.
In a gamble to retain the strike, he took on a throw from Ravindra Jadeja at midwicket , but the powerful and accurate return caught him short.
A quick end to the Zimbabwe innings seemed imminent but the bottom three weren't about to throw their wickets away. Chatara's hook for six off Vinay was the highlight as the tail extended Zimbabwe's innings by more than 11 overs before Mishra returned to polish them off.
Faced with a small target and a placid pitch, India weren't too troubled during the chase, and there were never any doubts over which side was heading for victory. Rohit Sharma played a few eye-catching strokes before falling cheaply for the third time in the series. His opening partner Shikhar Dhawan looked set to extend his recent golden run as he feasted on the loose deliveries on offer, but after racing to 35 off 31, he crashed a length ball straight to cover. Ambati Rayudu was slow to start but just as he got going, he chipped a return catch on 33.
Unlike the others, Kohli didn't throw it away. He was edgy to begin with, but calmly worked the singles early on and with asking-rate never too far from three an over, he was content to coast along. It was only towards the end of the game, with the result almost guaranteed that he opened out and hurried India past the finish line, completing India's sixth successive ODI victory.
25 overs India 109 for 2 (Kohli 32*, Rayudu 22*) need another 75 runs to beat Zimbabwe 183 (Williams 45, Mishra 4-47)
Faced with a small target and a placid pitch, India weren't too troubled as they progressed towards a series-clinching victory in Harare. Virat Kohli and Amabti Rayudu, who orchestrated the chase in first ODI, were in the middle guiding India towards their sixth consecutive one-day win.
Rohit Sharma played a few eye-catching strokes before falling cheaply for the third time in the series. His opening partner Shikhar Dhawan looked set to extend his recent golden run as he feasted on the short balls on offer, and the many deliveries on his pads. After racing to 35 off 31, though, he crashed a length ball straight to cover.
There were still no serious worries for India as their best batsman, Virat Kohli, was on hand to calmly keep India on course. It wasn't Kohli's most fluent innings, with several edgy shots, but he offered no real chances as India coasted towards victory.
50 overs Zimbabwe 183 (Williams 45, Mishra 4-47) v India
Teams winning the toss have enjoyed a huge advantage in this series, and today was no different as Virat Kohli called correctly and watched his bowlers wipe out Zimbabwe for 183. Even reaching that meagre score reflected a recovery for Zimbabwe, who had been at 89 for 6 in the 23rd over, and still had three tailenders to come who had shown little aptitude for batting.
The winter pitch at the Harare Sports Club has followed the same pattern in every match this series: assisting the seamers appreciably in the first hour before gradually easing up. A quick look at the scorecards of the first two ODIs should have given the batsman an idea of how to play first up - in the first match, the Zimbabwe openers put away the big shots to rebuff the early questions from the quicks and reached 48 for 0 after 15 overs; in the second, a more expansive India were faltering at 59 for 3 and needed some major recovery work.
Vusi Sibanda clearly hadn't learnt from that, charging out of the crease and attempting a wild heave in the first over itself, predictably edging a catch towards extra cover. After that Vinay Kumar strike, it was Mohammed Shami's turn to break through, on his first ball as well, getting Sikandar Raza to nick to the keeper. With the ball hooping around, Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza survived a bunch of lbw calls and were routinely beaten but made sure no further wickets went down.
Taylor could have been run-out a couple of times but he didn't attempt any risky shots, the first sign of enterprise being a controlled pull for four off Vinay in the ninth over. Masakadza was content driving through the off side, didn't play across the line, and the pair shepherded Zimbabwe to the relative security of 67 for 2 in the 16th over. The first hour had been seen off, and Zimbabwe were looking forward to more comfortable batting conditions. However, Jaydev Unadkat, India's best seamer in the previous game, ended the stand getting Taylor to chip a catch to mid-off.
Then, the Indian spinners took over. Zimbabwe have poked and prodded against the turning ball, regularly beset by doubts over how much the ball will spin and in which direction. Amit Mishra's mix of legspinners, googlies, sliders and seam-up deliveries have proved too much for Zimbabwe and he has prospered in his first stint in the ODI team in two years. He continued to enjoy himself today as in his first over, he trapped Masakadza and Malcolm Waller lbw to be on a hat-trick. He didn't get one but the double-blow wrecked Zimbabwe's chances of making a big score.
Ravindra Jadeja then set up the big-hitting Elton Chigumbura with a delivery that spun sharply away before getting the next one to slide on. Sean Williams and Prosper Utseya arrested the slide with a 36-run stand in which both batsmen were quick to pounce on the poor balls on offer. Williams was strong square of the wicket on either side, using the sweeps well against the spinners to make a combative 45.
Williams seemed to lose his composure once Utseya fell in the 33rd over, looking to take as much of the strike as he could, given that Tendai Chatara, Brian Vitori and Michael Chinouyi are not known for their batting skills. He took on a throw from Jadeja at midwicket in a gamble to retain the strike, but the powerful and accurate return caught him short.
A quick end to the Zimbabwe innings seemed imminent but the bottom three weren't about to throw their wickets away. Chatara's hook for six off Vinay was the highlight as the tail extended Zimbabwe's innings by more than 11 overs before Mishra returned to polish them off.
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