Zimbabwe vs India ODI Live Scores & Commentary | ZIM vs IND 3rd ODI Live Scores

Preview

India haven't lost an ODI in Zimbabwe in nine years. That they have only played 13 matches here for the duration is a different discussion altogether but come Monday (August 21), the hosts will have yet another shot at breaking away from the pattern in the third and final ODI.

Zimbabwe would have perhaps liked a change of scene, for the Harare Sports Club has seen them go down far too easily in the past few days. But nobody knows it better that it's also the same venue where they recently outmuscled Bangladesh despite missing seven regular players. So it's all about "being a handful for India on a given day," as batting coach Lance Klusener told Cricbuzz ahead of the series.

Klusener, though, will be worried about how the top order has shaped up against India's new-ball attack. Yes, Regis Chakabva lost both the tosses but the individual scores belie the playing conditions on offer. Only one of the top-four batters has gone past single digits in the series so far. And that's also constricted Sikandar Raza and Sean Williams, the two best batters in the side.

With the series won, India don't have much stake in the fixture except perhaps giving some more game-time to their ever expanding bench strength. KL Rahul, who opened in the second ODI at the cost of Shubman Gill, would like some runs against his name while the selectors will have their keen eyes on the one-upmanship between Shardul Thakur and Deepak Chahar. Can both of them play?

When: Monday, August 22 at 9:15 am local, 12:45 pm IST

Where: Harare Sports Club

What to expect: Pleasant conditions to play cricket in once again. The average first innings score is about 230 at the venue while only 78 out of 164 games here have been won batting first.

Team news

Zimbabwe: The hosts brought in Takudzwanashe Kaitano to partner Innocent Kaia at the top but it wasn't quite an improvement in terms of the scoreline. Tanaka Chivanga, who was brought in place of Richard Ngarava and picked the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan, is likely to keep his place.

India: To be fair, India's batting lineup has hardly broken a sweat this series. KL Rahul has indicated that he's going to open once again, so where does that leave Rahul Tripathi and Ruturaj Gaikwad, the two top-order batters who have hitherto warmed the bench, is anyone's guess. Bowling wise, there's perhaps more room to experiment and it might just work out well for Avesh Khan and Shahbaz Ahmed.

What they said

"I do need some time in the middle. Obviously playing this series, it's important for me to take some runs and confidence away, unfortunately didn't work out today (second ODI)" - KL Rahul.