India and Zimbabwe will face each other in the 3rd T20i of the ongoing series on 10th of July at Harare Sports Club.
Match Preview:
After facing defeat in the opening game of the T20i series, India made a thumping comeback to level the series. The rising star, Abhishek Sharma made headlines as he scored a century while Ruturaj Gaikwad chipped in with an unbeaten knock of 77. Rinku Singh also made a valuable contribution as his unbeaten knock of 48 helped his side to beat the home side by 100 runs.
India would hope for a similar performance in the upcoming game to take a lead as the series is evenly poised as of yet.
India will have a boost in confidence as Jaiswal, Samson and Dube, part of the T20 World Cup winning squad, will join the team.
It somehow will complicate the selection for the Indian team. Sanju Samson will likely replace Rajasthan Royals team-mate Dhruv Jurel. But who will replace Dube? It is yet to be seen how India will tackle this headache.
Among bowlers, Mukesh Kumar and Avesh Khan showed phenomenal performances in the 2nd T20i and India would be happy and proud if they continue to rattle the stumps in the third T20i as well.
For Zimbabwe, they have to keep things simple. They are playing a young side and naturally it takes time to build up a young team. As the skipper Sikandar Raza said after the second game of the series:
“A lot of mistakes our youngsters have made have been due to lack of [experience] and not so much to do with their skills, so that’s a positive as well,” Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza said after the second T20I. “As they play, as they continue to find their feet in international cricket, they’ll learn. We all have been there.”
Although Zimbabwe and Sikandar would be happy with the signs young Brian Bennett has shown so far. He scored a 15-ball 22 in the first game and a nine-ball 26 in the second. And on top of that he provides an off-spin option as well. His contributions would be pivotal if Zimbabwe wants to win the third T20i against India.
And if he plays, a left-arm pacer, Richard Ngarava, would be a treat to watch. And yes the captain will have to step-up as he is the key player of his side.
Pitch and weather update:
On the eve of the game, the Indian batter Gaikwad perfectly summed up the pitch conditions, in his own words:
“Yes, definitely the conditions are challenging,” he said. “It is a bit unique. When there is some seam movement, you can still negotiate it if it is coming at one pace. But I feel it is a little double-paced here, there is a little variable bounce. So, there is a bit of difference because of that. [As long as] the ball is new, it is slightly tougher to score runs, but once the ball is old, fast boundaries, relatively small boundaries straight, you can still convert your runs after that.”
As for the weather it promises to be clear and a perfect sunny day for a match.
Predictions:
With the returns of the likes of Dube and Samson, India are favourites to win the third T20i of the series.
Head-to-head:
Both of the sides have played 10 games so far, 3 have been won by the Chevrons while India clinched victory in 7 games.
Where to watch:
In India, All the matches will be live broadcast at Sony Sports Network. And if you want to watch it live you can watch it on Sony App Live and Website. In Zimbabwe one can watch matches on Sony Network and SuperSport. And in Pakistan and around the globe one can watch match at CricHd.com
