The third ODI between Zimbabwe and Kenya will be played Harare on Thursday. Zimbabwe have won both the first two games and lead the series 2-0. A loss for Kenya in this game will mean that the five match series will be lost.

For starters, Kenya will hope that they win the toss and can bat first. They have lost two successive tosses and have had to field first on a batting paradise. This has allowed the Zimbabweans to pile up a big enough total and that has made the task difficult for the Kenyans.

Hamilton Mazakadza of Zimbabwe has been in excellent touch in the series and he will be the batsman to look out for the Kenyans. Already having scored a 150 in this series, he followed it up with a half century to boot, and that means he has an average of over 100 in the series. The other opener for Zimbabwe is Mark Vermeulen, who had spent a good one year or so out of the side for his role in arson, but since his return, he has played well to get to two good starts in this series. Unfortunately, he hasn't been able to carry his form forward and has got out early.

Graeme Cremer has topped his side's bowling with seven wickets from two games and has a six-wicket haul to boot in the series. The Kenyans have found it difficult to handle his leg-spin and the runs havent come off him.

Kenya, on the other hand, rely heavily on Steve Tikolo, their grand old man to do the needful for their batting. Apart from him, there have not been too many who can be entrusted the responsibility to batting through and scoring at a good strike-rate. So, one almost gets the feeling that the bowlers will have to do a much better job for their side. Nehemiah Odhiambo has been their only major successful bowler, but the quick bowling department has come a cropper. The likes of Peter Ongondo and Otieno will need to bowl well with the new ball to get something out for the Kenyans and restrict them to a manageable total.

And if they bat first, Kenya will need to ensure that they get to a total of at least 250 to make a match of it.

Tag :- Kenya   Mark Vermeulen   Nehemiah Odhiambo   Peter Ongondo   Steve Tikolo   Zimbabwe