Zimbabwe had been knocking on the doors for a while now. Away at Pakistan and at home against India last month, they turned in several impressive performances only to be denied at the cusp of victory.
That run of near-misses ended after they managed to level the T20I series 1-1 against India last month and now, following a stunning seven-wicket in the first ODI against New Zealand, they stand a chance to complete a rare series win against a side that finished second only to Australia at the World Cup.
If Kane Williamson and Co. thought they could afford to use the Zimbabwe series to slowly build momentum heading into the more strenuous assignment against South Africa, they were in for a rude awakening from Craig Ervine and Hamilton Masakadza. New Zealand now have had just a day to reflect on their defeat before they set about turning the series around.
Short turnarounds between games can go either way. On one hand, there is a chance to put the loss behind as a bad day at the office and get on the field afresh and on the other hand allows a a buoyant Zimbabwe chance to keep the momentum going.
Date: August 4, 2015
Time: 07:00 GMT; 12:30 IST
Venue: Harare Sports Club
Weather: Pleasant day with a high of 23 degrees Celsius.
Team News:
Zimbabwe
The hosts would have been buoyed by the comeback of leading strike bowler Tinashe Panyangara, who after missing the final two ODIs against India, returned to prize out Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson and conceded just 50 runs in his 10 overs. Chris Mpofu, on the other hand, went for 84 in his ten and could be replaced by Neville Madziva. The batting remains Zimbabwe’s biggest strength. The likes of Sikandar Raza batting as low as number 6 is a testament to the work put in by Dav Whatmore and Co. on the batting following an embarrassing 5-0 defeat to Bangladesh at the end of last year.
Probable XI: Hamilton Masakadza, Chamu Chibhabha, Craig Ervine, Elton Chigumbura (c), Sean Williams, Sikandar Raza, Regis Chakabva (wk), Graeme Cremer, Prosper Utseya, Neville Madziva/Chris Mpofu, Tinashe Panyangara
New Zealand
Despite missing Brendon McCullum’s pyrotechnics, New Zealand’s top-order, with the presence of Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor has enough firepower to counter Zimbabwe’s bowling attack. However, the backup bowling options were found out on a HSC surface that, as observed in the series against India, eased out considerably for the second innings. New Zealand have the option of bringing in Adam Milne, who can offer that extra pace that they need. James Neesham, having been left out of the World Cup at home, is only just making his return to the side and will want to improve his performance if he is to stake a claim to the main side.
Probable XI: Tom Latham, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Grant Elliott, Jimmy Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Nathan McCullum, Matt Henry/Adam Milne, Mitchell McClenaghan, Ish Sodhi
Stats and Trivia:
– Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor have put together 10 century stands in ODIs. India’s Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly lead the chart with 26.
– Martin Guptill is 56 runs away from becoming the 10th Black Caps batsman to score 4000 ODI runs.
Quotes:
“It’s a little tough to bat first up with these early starts bu we will learn from the experience of the first game and adapt accordingly.”-
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson remained upbeat despite the defeat in the first ODI
