India start as favourites against battered Zimbabwe in third T20I

A rejuvenated India will start as the favourites against Zimbabwe, who have been left bruised and battered after a 10-wicket thrashing, when the two teams clash in the series-deciding third and final Twenty20 International in Harare, on Wednesday.

India entered the T20I series on the back of a 3-0 whitewash of Zimbabwe in the ODIs, but suffered a shocking two-run loss to the hosts in the opening T20 on Saturday.

The visitors got their act together in the second game on Monday as they crushed hosts Zimbabwe by 10 wickets at the Harare Sports Club.

India, who stayed alive with the victory, would now look to seal the issue in their favour in the third and final T20I at the same venue.

Led by veteran skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the young Indian side would take heart from good performances by Barinder Sran, Mandeep Singh, KL Rahul and also Jasprit Bumrah.

While young seamer Sran returned the best figures by an Indian on debut, Mandeep struck a fluent half-century and Rahul too contributed handsomely to guide the team home with plenty of overs to spare.

Sran finished with excellent figures of 4 for 10 in his quota of four overs, the second best globally, as Zimbabwe were restricted to 99 for 9 in their 20 overs after they had elected to bat first.

In reply, the opening pair of Lokesh Rahul (47 off 40 balls) and Mandeep Singh (52 off 40) put up 103 in 13.1 overs to hand India's its first 10-wicket win in the format.

Sran was ably assisted by Jasprit Bumrah, who picked up three wickets for 11 runs in his quota of four overs.

The experienced campaigner that he is, Dhoni would however not take the beleaguered hosts lightly and advise his younger team-mates to guard against complacency, irrespective of the margin of victory in the previous game.

"I emphasised we needed to run hard, push the fielders and in a shorter format it's always important to sneak in those quick runs," Dhoni had said after the victory.

As far as Graeme Cremer's Zimbabwe are concerned, they would hope to end on a high and make up for their lacklustre showing in the ODI series.

Skipper Cremer spoke about the side losing wickets at regular intervals.

"We started well but we lost wickets at regular intervals, just couldn't get going. It was disappointing, we thought the pitch misbehaved a bit but getting all out for 99 isn't good enough. We still have one more game to go," Cremer said.

If Zimbabwe are to give India a tough fight, the likes of Chamu Chibhabha, Hamilton Masakadza, Sikandar Raza, Elton Chigumbura and Malcolm Waller will have to fire with the bat in unison, and then hope the bowlers put up a good show.

Teams:

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), KL Rahul, Faiz Fazal, Manish Pandey, Karun Nair, Ambati Rayudu, Rishi Dhawan, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jasprit Bumrah, Barinder  Sran, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Jaydev Unadkat, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Zimbabwe: Graeme Cremer (Captain), Vusimuzi Sibanda, Sikandar Raza, Elton Chigumbura, Hamilton Masakadza, Wellington Masakadza, Tendai Chatara, Chamu Chibhaha, Donald Tiripano, Malcolm Waller, Peter Moor, Tapiwa Mufudza, Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Taurai Muzarabani, Richmond Mutumbami, Brian Chari, Neville Madziva, Timycen Maruma.

Image: India's players celebrate a wicket against Zimbabwe in the second Twenty20 International in Harare.

Photograph: Philimon Bulawayo/Reuters