 India will face Zimbabwe in the second T20I between the two teams at Harare.
India lead the series 1-0 after their win in the first game, and the Zimbabweans
will look to equal the series with some better batting. On the other hand, the
Indians will want to avenge their losses to Zimbabwe in the tri-series and go
home winners, 2-0.
Click for Live Score Card of Zimbabwe Vs India
The Indian bowling won them the first game, but it must be said that the side
were benefitted by some strange stroke play from Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean start
was such that one felt that the side will go on to score more than 160, but
in the end, they tried to play too many strokes too soon and capitulated to
a rather measly 111 all out.
Where the Zimbabweans went wrong was that they tried to play far too many strokes
and that meant that once the Indian spinners came on, it became difficult to
control that. It meant that the batsmen got a few runs, got a start and then
fell away for almost next to nothing.
The Zimbabwe side will need to overcome this issue and ensure that they bat
like the way they batted in the ODIs. There needs to be some purpose, and most
importantly, the Zimbabweans need to ensure that they give the Indian spinners
due respect.
Talking of that, one gets the sense that given the way the pitch behaved and
the way the hosts batted, there cannot be too much doubt that the Indians will
need to go into the game with an extra spinner. This could mean that India
drop one of the two pace bowlers out of Ashok Dinda and Vinay Kumar, and get
in Ravindra jadeja in his place. It will also mean that one of Jadeja, Ashwin,
Piyush Chawla or Pragyan Ojha will need to open the bowling for the side.
The mantle of doing that may fall on the shoulders of Jadeja as well, but the
bowlers could well be rotated along in the first six overs.
The Indian batting was also worth watching. Murali Vijay seemed to have forgotten
the way he had played in the IPL and that has left him pretty much without too
many runs. Naman Ojha also failed in both the innings that he has played
so far, and will look to make the most of the chances that he may get in the
next game. Overall, the Indian batting has done decently well but it could get
interesting to see how the side manages to make it 2-0 if they bat first.
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