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India, excelling at their own form of the game, won their second match out of two in the international Twenty20 series at Harare Sports Club, beating Zimbabwe by seven wickets. Zimbabwe was handicapped by a slow start to their innings, but made a good recovery, only to find the Indian batsmen easily equal to overtaking their total. Again India won the toss, and again put Zimbabwe in to bat. Zimbabwe had made three changes, including a debut for the 19-year-old seam bowler Tendai Chatara, but their attitude had also changed. Gone was the reckless hitting of the top order on Friday; in came a caution and even a timidity which was evident from the moment Hamilton Masakadza allowed five balls, plus a wide, to pass his off stump in the opening over – although umpire Russell Tiffin was perhaps also a little too tolerant of the bowler’s width. Zimbabwe at present have no idea how to bat when required to do so first; at any rate, the score after four overs was only 10 for one.

The Indian bowlers had worked out their tactics well against the Zimbabwean batsmen, and seemed to have the match wrapped up when the score was only 47 for two after ten overs. Soon afterwards Brendan Taylor, the only early batsman to look competent, was brilliantly caught on the boundary for 27, but then Charles Coventry, omitted from the first match, began to turn the tide. He hammered 28 off only 13 balls, including three fours and two sixes, before being bowled by a superb yorker from Ashok Dinda. Elton Chigumbura did his bit with 18 off only six balls, out to another brilliant catch in the deep, and, with Tatenda Taibu still there at the end with 45 off 40 balls, the final total was 140 for five wickets. Dinda, with two for 15, returned the best figures. It was much better than on Thursday, much better than had looked likely after the painful start, but probably still not enough to win the match.

Chatara, opening the bowling opposite Chris Mpofu, made a good start to his international career, with only a single scored off an impressive opening over; he was to finish with the best economy rate of all Zimbabwe’s bowlers. Mpofu was more expensive, though, and India ’s opening partnership ran up 32 runs in five overs before Naman Ojha was caught by Chatara near the midwicket boundary off Price. Murali Vijay was in fine form, though, and showed a liking for hitting sixes – three of them, against two fours - while Suresh Raina was his usual aggressive self. The 100 came up in the 14th over, until Vijay (46) holed out in the deep. But with 30 more needed to win off 33 balls, the match was then as good as over. Zimbabwe had a consolation wicket as Yusuf Pathan skied a catch attempting the winning hit, but were beaten with two overs to spare. Full scorecard below the cut.
Zimbabwe 140/5 (20 overs; Taibu 45*, Dinda 2/15), India 144/3 (18 overs; Vijay 46, Chibhabha 1/19). India win by 7 wickets.
[Source: ZC]

It was difficult to predict a likely result for this match, as Zimbabwe had twice beaten India during the triangular tournament, but the visitors had played in the IPL Twenty20 league and so could claim greater experience in this form of the game. In the event, Zimbabwe indeed showed their lack of experience, allowing India to stroll to victory by six wickets with more than five overs to spare.

With a one o’clock start, the toss was not as important to the result of the match as it had been in the longer format, but the team sent in to bat were still destined to lose the match. It was their own fault, however, as Zimbabwe committed the cricketing equivalent of burning their candle at both ends. After losing Hamilton Masakadza in the first over, Brendan Taylor and Chamu Chibhabha launched a blazing assault on the Indian seam bowlers. Boundaries flowed, with both hitting a six in Vinay Kumar’s second over, but it couldn’t last, as the bowler dismissed Taylor lbw with his final delivery. This made the score 30 for two off three overs. Runs continued to flow, but it was a dangerous game, especially when the spinners came on to bowl.

The real turning point came when Chibhabha was beaten and trapped lbw by a googly from Piyush Chawla for 40 off 30 balls (five fours and a six; 73 for four). From then on, it was India all the way. Craig Ervine became bogged down, although he eventually made 30 (44 balls), but Elton Chigumbura holed out in the deep for three, making five down for 80 in the 14th over. The lower order never looked like firing, and when the seamers returned they bowled out three batsmen, including Ervine, with yorkers. Pragyan Ojha, with two for 11 in his four overs, set a new economy record for India in Twenty20 matches, while Vinay Kumar took three wickets for 24. The total was an inadequate 111 for nine wickets.

India would have had to play very badly to fail in this run chase, but Zimbabwe did not let them have it all their own way. Chris Mpofu conceded seven runs in his first over, but he finished it with the wicket of Murali Vijay, who clipped a catch to midwicket. In his next over Mpofu removed Naman Ojha, and India were suddenly 12 for two. Suresh Raina did not take this lying down, and he counter-attacked, playing some fine strokes in his 28 (17 balls) before swinging a ball from Raymond Price to midwicket; 47 for three in the eighth over. A single later Tatenda Taibu superbly stumped Rohit Sharma for 4, both wickets falling to Raymond Price. But Zimbabwe were unable to sustain the pressure, and the Indian batsmen hit the loose balls well. Virat Kohli and Yusuf Pathan finished the job with some powerful but astute hitting. They finished with 24 and 35 respectively, at better than a run a ball. Full scorecard below the cut.
Zimbabwe 111/9 (20 overs; Chibhabha 40, Kumar 3/24), India 112/4 (15 overs; Pathan 37*, Price 2/24). India win by 6 wickets.
[Source: ZC]

It was an eagerly-awaited warm-up game for the visitors, one which would have given them a chance to forget failure and embrace success on their (so far) forgettable tour to Zimbabwe. But, after stuttering to a narrow 6-run win against the Zimbabwe High Performance Centre (HPC), more headache is all that the Indian team management got ahead of their two T20 international games against Zimbabwe this weekend. Big-hitter Yusuf Pathan managed just six runs, vice-captain Virat Kohli didn’t even bother the two lady scorers and bowlers like Ashok Dinda and Pragyan Ojha went wicketless. Not an ideal preparation indeed before the two-eagerly awaited T20 matches.

HPC won the toss, and captain Vusimuzi Sibanda sent the visitors to bat. The home side's nineteen year old seamer, Tendai Chatara celebrated his first wicket against India removing opening batsman Naman Ohja in the fourth over as he tried to play straight down the ground, giving an easy catch to mid-on. Only Murali Vijay and Captain Suresh Raina put up decent scores of 41 and 31 respectively. Dinesh Karthik (20 off 17balls) and Ravichandran Ashwin (15 not out) were the only other batsmen to reach double figures. Chatara was the mainstay for Zimbabwe in restricting the more experienced visitors to a total of 145 runs. The Mountaineers opener claimed three wickets for 22 runs off his four overs.

In reply, Stuart Matsikenyeri’s brilliant knock of 55 from 39 balls kept India at bay despite early losses of Vusimuzi Sibanda (17 off 23 balls), Keith Dabengwa (0) and Razza Butt (1). Matsikenyeri’s innings was a brisk 39 minute knock featuring four sixes and two fours. Partnered by Prince Masvaure who scored 41 off 37 balls, the pair grabbed the bull by its horns setting the second highest partnership of 48. The middle order, though, succumbed to the experienced bowling of the Indians and fell at a disappointing rate. Pace bowling was the weapon of choice today, with right arm pacer Vinay Kumar the top wicket taker for India, claiming three for 28. Abhimanyu Mithun however took the responsibility of removing the opening pair in the first over, before bowling three more overs for 14 runs.

"We have been working very hard for the past five days and the warm-up game gave us great practise. It helped us identify the areas we need to work on before we play Zimbabwe on Saturday," said Mithun after the match, but India certainly have a lot to work to do before facing Zimbabwe in the first T20 match on Saturday.
India 145 (Vijay 41, Chitara 3/22), Zimbabwe HPC 139 (Matsikenyeri 55, Kumar 3/28). India win by 6 runs.
[Source: ZC]

Sri Lanka eased their way to victory over India in Harare today, claiming payback for their earlier defeat in the tournament and in doing so ensuring that Sri Lanka will meet Zimbabwe in the tri-series final on Wednesday. India posted a respectable-looking 268/9 from their 50 overs, led by Virat Kohli's 68, but some poor bowling and a confident 111 from Dinesh Chandimal made sure that the Sri Lankan's came out on top this time around.

Before the final, Zim and Sri Lanka will also meet in the final group stage match of the series, on Monday - a dead rubber as far as this tourney is concerned, but still a ranking match and with Zimbabwe's recent record against Sri Lanka not being great, it'll be a chance for the home side to get a good handle on what they'll be up against. Here's hoping they don't waste the opportunity.
India 268/9 (50 overs; Kohli 68, Thushara 3/57), Sri Lanka 270/4 (48.2 overs; Chandimal 111, Ashwin 2/50). Sri Lanka win by 6 wickets.

The tri-series has moved to Harare for the second round of matches, the first of which was round two of Zimbabwe v India, with India confident ahead of the match of being able to take revenge for the drubbing they received in the tournament opener. Zimbabwe, on the other hand, have a far better recent record at Fortress HSC than they've had at Queen's, giving them a bit of a psychological advantage going into the match. Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to field, and while openers Dinesh Karthik (33) and Murali Vijay (21) put on 58 for the first wicket, it was all Zimbabwe's innings from there on. Led by an impressively-economical spell from Andy Blignaut (22/1 from his 10 overs), Zim's bowlers choked off the supply of runs for the Indians and took regular wickets throughout the innings. The only real bright spot for the visitors was Ravindra Jadeja's 51, while Greg Lamb again proved his value to the side, taking 3/45 along the way to restricting India to 194/9 from their 50 overs. Some superb 'keeping from Tatenda Taibu, returning from injury, also did no harm to Zim's cause.

That left Zim chasing 195 to win, a score that, on paper, they should be able to chase down easily enough - but the spectre of the Zimbabwe Collapse™, as seen against Sri Lanka, was lurking in the background to potentially spoil the party. Zimbabwe's batting inconsistency is such that you never know which side will turn up to bat: the brittle, record-low-scoring one, or the solid, determined one - it usually takes a steady opening stand to ensure the latter, and today Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor stood up and provided that stand. The pair put on 128 runs for the opening wicket, cracking along at well above the asking rate and with one eye on the bonus point that could be scored if Zimbabwe could chase the target down inside 40 overs. Taylor was eventually the first to go, after adding an impressive 74, while Masakadza eventually holed out for 66, but by then the foundations for another stunning victory had been built. Charles Coventry made a useful cameo appearance, scoring 20 before heading back to the pavilion, leaving captain Elton Chigumbura (16*) and Tatenda Taibu (13*) to close out the match - which they did with plenty of time to spare.

The win puts Zimbabwe back on top of the points table, and almost certainly into the tri-series final. Well done the lads. Full scorecard below the cut.
India 194/9 (50 overs; Jadeja 51, Lamb 3/45), Zimbabwe 197/3 (38.2 overs; Taylor 74, Jadeja 2/27). Zimbabwe win by 7 wickets.

India eased past Sri Lanka to get themselves on the board in the tri-series - and if they can beat Sri Lanka, surely we can on Tuesday. If only life were that easy. Sri Lanka, batting first, spent most of their innings pinned down and ended up with what turned out to be sub-par score - and one that India had no problems chasing. Net Run Rate still leaves Zimbabwe in unfamiliar ground at the top of the tournament table.
Sri Lanka 242 (49.5 overs; Mathews 75, Dinda 2/44, Ojha 2/44), India 243/3 (43.3 overs; Sharma 101*, Kulasekara 1/34). India win by 7 wickets.

In a thrilling run-chase, Zimbabwe tracked down a daunting Indian total to win the opening match of the triangular tournament by six wickets with ten balls to spare. Despite a poor start, despite requiring a run rate of almost nine an over at one stage, they showed the spirit and skill to break through the barrier and win handsomely.

India decided to bat on winning the toss, correctly seeing little danger of early life in the pitch. Zimbabwe were lacking Tatenda Taibu, who has injured his ankle. India were given a flying start by Zimbabwe ’s new captain, Elton Chigumbura, who had a nightmare opening spell with the ball. If his first over was erratic, his second was horrendous, conceding 26 runs, most of them in leg-side wides that Brendan Taylor, the wicket-keeper, was unable to reach. When the 50 went up in the eighth over, 26 were extras, and three of those were wides.

At the other end Chris Mpofu was doing a steady job without support, but the momentum was broken by two fine run-outs. Murali Vijay paid the price for carelessness in turning back after considering a second run, and Taylor ’s backward underhand flick found him stranded; Virat Kohli didn’t face a ball before Chigumbura showed his fielding had not suffered, with a direct hit. When Dinesh Karthik edged an attempted cut off Utseya to the keeper, India were 61 for three in the 13th over.

Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina were forced to consolidate, contenting themselves with working the ball around for singles, which they did skilfully. The 100 came up in the 25th over, but at 128 Raina, growing impatient, slashed at a very wide ball from Mpofu and was caught at the wicket for 37 off 53 balls. But Sharma stood firm and increased the tempo, finding a good partner in Ravindra Jadeja. Once past 50, Sharma improvised marvellously at times and both made batting look easy; there was nothing the Zimbabwean bowlers could do to keep them under control.

With two overs to go Sharma finally skied a catch to the keeper and departed for 114, scored off 119 balls, with six fours and four sixes. With Yusuf Pathan contributing 11 off five balls, Jadeja finished unbeaten on 61 off the same number of balls. India totalled a very impressive 285 for five, with only three wickets falling to the bowlers. When Zimbabwe went in to bat after lunch, though, Hamilton Masakadza and Taylor immediately showed they were not to be daunted.

They latched on to the bad balls and played their strokes readily and responsibly, in particular driving with certainty. The 50 came up in the ninth over with another superb drive to the boundary by Masakadza, and then Taylor first pulled and then drove sixes in an over from Vinay Kumar. After ten overs, Zimbabwe had 68 on the board. At 88, though, Masakadza tried to force a ball from Amit Mishra off the back foot and was bowled for 46, off 43 balls. Greg Lamb did not look comfortable at the start, but the 100 came up in the 17th over, which put Zimbabwe well ahead of India at that stage. Immediately afterwards Taylor went to his 50 off the same number of balls.

After this the batsmen unaccountably went through a quiet period, and were beginning to fall behind the run rate when Lamb played down the wrong line to Ravindar Jadeja’s arm ball and was trapped lbw for 27; 151 for two in the 30th over. At 176 Taylor finally departed for 81 (103 balls), caught off a cramped pull; at this stage the required run rate was almost seven and over. It might have been a good time to send in Andy Blignaut – but Charles Coventry is no slouch either. But the required rate swelled to more than eight an over, and it should now have been clear that only something extraordinary would give Zimbabwe the victory that had looked well within their grasp during the opening partnership.

Coventry suddenly exploded with a huge six over the sightscreen off Pathan, and in the next over hit another over midwicket off Mishra; a third travelled over extra cover off Pathan, all going as high as they did long. But then Yadav bowled him through the gate as he was deceived by a slower ball, for 32 off 25 balls. With five overs to go, 42 were still needed, but they were now in the batting powerplay. Ervine, on his ODI debut, reached an admirable fifty off 51 balls, and 18 runs came off the 46th over, mostly to Chigumbura; Zimbabwe were favourites again, with both batsmen playing with great judgment. Two leg-side boundaries by Ervine, who batted like an experienced international player of real class, left four off the last two overs – but they were full tosses, and India ’s inexperience was letting them down. With ten balls to spare, a top-edged pull to the boundary over the keeper’s head by Chigumbura took Zimbabwe through to a fine victory. Ervine finished with 67 and Chigumbura with 20; Blignaut was not needed after all.

Despite their sagging run rate, Zimbabwe did not panic and managed to keep their target just within the realms of possibility while keeping their wickets intact. It will have done the morale of the side tremendous good, while India lacked the experienced bowlers who would surely have bowled better at the death than the enthusiastic but raw youngsters. Full scorecard below the cut.
[Source: ZC]

Zimbabwe's squad for the tri-series against India and Sri Lanka has been named, with Ed Rainsford being the only change to the side from the World Twenty20, replacing Kyle Jarvis who has a long-term back injury. Chris Mpofu is also still carrying an injury, but chief selector Alastair Campbell has indicated that this hopefully won't affect his ability to play. The full squad is:
Elton Chigumbura (captain), Gregory Lamb, Tatenda Taibu (wicketkeeper), Vusimuzi Sibanda, Craig Ervine, Brendan Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza, Prosper Utseya, Graeme Cremer, Raymond Price, Edward Rainsford, Christopher Mpofu, Andy Blignaut, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Charles Coventry.

The BCCI have named a second-string side for the tri-series against Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, which gets underway in Bulawayo on May 28th. The named squad is:

M Vijay, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suresh Raina (capt), Virat Kohli (vice-capt), Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Pankaj Singh, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Naman Ojha

That should make the series a little more interesting - and gives Zimbabwe a good chance of picking up some ODI rating points. On the other hand, it's a bit of a slap in the face for ZC, as the national side need to be playing full-strength opposition if their readiness for a Test return is to be fairly assessed.

ZC have confirmed that Zimbabwe will host a triangular series with Sri Lanka and India after the World Twenty20. The series will be played between 26th May and 14th June, with both Harare Sports Club and Queens Sports Club hosting matches. The tri-series will be followed by a two-match Twenty20 series between Zimbabwe and India. Here's the schedule:

28 May 2010     Zimbabwe v India                Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
20 May 2010     India v Sri Lanka               Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
1 June 2010     Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka            Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo
3 June 2010     Zimbabwe v India                Harare Sports Club
5 June 2010     India v Sri Lanka               Harare Sports Club
7 June 2010     Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka            Harare Sports Club
9 June 2010     Final                           Harare Sports Club

12 June 2010    Zimbabwe v India: 1st T20I      Harare Sports Club
12 June 2010    Zimbabwe v India: 2nd T20I      Harare Sports Club