India 184 for 3 (Kohli 68*, Dhawan 35, Raina 28*) defeats Zimbabwe 183 (Williams 45, Mishra 4-47) by 7 wickets
Another comprehensive victory for India and they have wrapped up this series 3-0 with two games to go. Zimbabwe were listless again, they failed to put up any fight. Their batsmen stammered which proved to be the hammer blow.
Chasing the target, there was an initial stutter at the start for India but the rest of the batsmen got starts and managed to stitch together partnerships. Skipper Kohli again led from the front and powered them past the finish line.
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 Suresh Raina, 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.
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.
Chasing the target, there was an initial stutter at the start for India but the rest of the batsmen got starts and managed to stitch together partnerships. Skipper Kohli again led from the front and powered them past the finish line.
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 Suresh Raina, 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.
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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