India vs Zimbabwe 3rd ODI Live Match – 28th July 2013
July 28, 2013
India vs Zimbabwe 3rd ODI Live Match – 28th July 2013
India lead the ODI series against Zimbabwe 2-0 and a win in Harare for the 3rd ODI will secure the series win but India will be striving for more than a win against an average opponent. Zimbabwe have definitely fought hard against India and have put their ability of display. Rohit Sharma has relished the opportunity to open the batting for India ever since taking over during the Champions League but has struggled against Zimbabwe. Sikandar Raza is a new face to the Zimbabwe squad but has looked quite impressive opening the batting after scoring the half century in the 1st ODI.
Rohit Sharma has started to make the opening slot his own in the past few months after he described this phase of his career as the best yet. Sharma and Dhawan complement each other well but Rohit Sharma has struggled in Zimbabwe accumulating only 21 runs and will want to make amends against an averaging bowling unit. Sharma has scored a century previously against Zimbabwe and will hope he can emulate that innings in the 3rd ODI. If the series is indeed seen as an opportunity to try out youngsters, Suresh Raina could make way for Pujara in the side. The Zimbabwe series may not be the toughest assignment, but good enough to test Pujara’s skills in ODIs. The rest of the batting looks more or less settled with big scores from Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli, Ambati Rayudu and Dinesh Karthik. In bowling, Jaydev Unadkat’s exploits with the ball has been the biggest positive in the series so far and the left-armer would do good from here on in the series to make most of the opportunity.
Sikandar Raza, the 27 year old has forced himself into the ODI team recently and has been one of the standout performers for Zimbabwe with the bat. Zimbabwe have often struggled for consistency with the bat but Raza seems like a reliable batsman from what many have seen of him against India. Despite the Indian bowling attack not being full strength Raza’s half century in the first ODI was very impressive and put his side in a good position to potentially have won the match. There have been a few good performances at the individual level for the hosts and they could actually prove to be a threat if they fire in unison. And as their coach Andy Waller said, their dream of beating India in one of the five matches, could well come true.
Match Timings: July 28, 2013 (09:00 local | 07:00 GMT | 12:30 IST)
India (probable) 1 Shikhar Dhawan, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli (capt), 4 Ambati Rayudu, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Amit Mishra, 9 Vinay Kumar, 10 Jaydev Unadkat, 11 Mohammad Shami.
Zimbabwe (probable) 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Sikandar Raza, 3 Hamilton Masakadza, 4 Brendan Taylor (capt & wk), 5 Malcolm Waller, 6 Sean Williams, 7 Elton Chigumbura, 8 Prosper Utseya, 9 Brian Vitori, 10 and 11 Kyle Jarvis/Tendai Chatara/Ray Price.
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