Mismatches usually don't get any more monumental than this as Zimbabwe's agony continued on the tour of New Zealand with yet another thrashing in the second one-dayer. Given the gulf between the two sides, there is little reason to predict for the story to be any different when the teams clash on Thursday in the final, dead encounter.

Zimbabwe have had no answers to the attacking brigade of the Kiwi players who have thoroughly outclassed them in all departments of the game.

The margin of defeat was nothing short of embarrassing for the struggling Zimbabwe side who were hoping to fare better than they did in the test match. However, the difficult conditions have eliminated any possible resurgence by them as they struggle to face the Kiwi music.

Chasing a mammoth total, they lost wickets early, including that of skipper Brendan Taylor, thereby crushing hopes of any fightback. While Tatenda Taibu scored a half-century, the batsmen will be eager to improve on their showing. The bowlers were no less miserable either, being taken for runs at will at the small Cobham Park ground.

New Zealand could not have asked for a better warm-up going into the South African series next month. They have been ruthless in their method and have gone for the killer punch instead of taking Zimbabwe any lightly. The bowlers have enjoyed the series, though their job was made much easier by the batsmen on Monday.

Jacob Oram's all-round brilliance will please the selectors as well as fans, as he stroked an aggressive 59 before picking up three wickets with the ball. Tim Southee would be feeling rather embarrassed at having conceded at five runs per over, and hence should be charged up to do better in the final ODI.

An injury to Dean Brownlie means he will miss out from the action at Napier. The day/night match starts at 2pm local time.

Tag :- Brendan Taylor   Dean Brownlie   New Zealand   Tim Southee   Zimbabwe