Daijiworld Media Network

Harare, Jul 26 : Welcome one and all to the 2nd ODI between Zimbabwe and India from Harare. India clinically dismantled the home team in the first ODI and they will be looking for a repeat act in the second. Indian skipper Virat Kohli led from the front and scored his 15th ODI century while Ambati Rayudu scored a fine fifty on debut.

Zimbabwe will be looking to start off on a positive note in this match after their openers started off slowly in the first match. Sikandar Raza and Elton Chigumbura were the stars with the bat but the rest of the batting has to step up and contribute. Their bowling, though, remains a concern.

India will be eager to assert further domination in the series against Zimbabwe. This is a Catch 22 tour for the Indians - one hand they are expected to win easily while a single loss would raise harsh questions on the abilities of the team despite some really good results in the recent past. Zimbabwe on the other hand, will just be hoping to slay the giants at least once along the way.

Zimbabwe have won the toss and elected to field

Virat Kohli: 'I would have batted first on this wicket. It is going to be a challenge. We had some testing conditions in West Indies and England and we came out with flying colors. I just had to build a partnership and I told Rayudu to be calm. Unadkat is a good bowler and I am pleased that Rayudu made his chance count.'

Brendan Taylor: 'We will bowl first and try to get some early breakthroughs. We have to show a bit more intent. Brian Vitori replaces Tinotenda Mutombodzi.'

Teams:

India (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Shami Ahmed, Vinay Kumar, Jaidev Unadkat

Zimbabwe (Playing XI): Vusi Sibanda, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams, Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor(w/c), Malcolm Waller, Elton Chigumbura, Brian Vitori, Prosper Utseya, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara

Match preview :

India India put up a clinical performance to hand Zimbabwe a six-wicket defeat in the first game of the series in Harare. So all seems well with the world champions, who are traveling without MS Dhoni and four of their key bowlers. Virat Kohli was at his best, cracking his 15th ODI century while Ambbati Rayudu had a dream debut, smashing an unbeaten 63 as the visitors chased down 229 in the 45th over. The bowlers had delivered some tight spells after Kohli put Zimbabwe in and Amit Mishra was lethal, taking three wickets in his comeback match. The hosts did not threaten to raise the scoring rate for a large part of the innings and that allowed the inexperienced Indian attack to settle down nicely.

However, the death bowling turned out to be a concern for India again. While Vinay Kumar, Shami Ahmed and another debutant, Jaidev Unadkat kept things tight in the morning, the seamers and Mishra bowled some poor deliveries in the fag end of the Zimbabwean innings, allowing Elton Chigumbura to play a delightful cameo and set India a healthy target.
Kohli did get most of his bowling changes right at the Harare Sports Club but he would want his bowlers to keep things a lot tighter in the slog overs.

There are no likely changes to the Indian team for the second ODI. Rayudu should now be a permanent feature for the rest of the series while Cheteshwar Pujara, who has cemented his place in the Test squad might have to wait for at least two more games before he gets a chance. The only way he can push is way in the team is if Dinesh Karthik continues to flop. The Tamil Nadu wicketkeeper-batsman, after his two centuries in the warm-up games in the Champions Trophy, has not done much and patience could be wearing thin if he does not do anything substantial in the next two games.

Strengths and weaknesses The Indian batting line-up is at full strength, even without MS Dhoni. Rayudu looked composed and calm in his stay at the crease while Kohli has worked himself back to great form. The openers, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma have are capable of firing the team to good starts and the Zimbabwean camp would be a worried lot as long as the opening pair stays in the middle. The death bowling needs to improve if India are to really dominate the hosts for the next few games - easy runs in the end often bolster sides and that is something Kohli would not be willing to see.

Zimbabwe Despite their heavy defeat, Zimbabwe need not be ashamed of themselves. Two of their batsmen, Sikandar Raza and Chigumbura, gave a good account of themselves against an Indian attack that was largely disciplined. The opening stand between Raza and Vusi Sibanda yielded a solid 72 but the pace at which those runs came would worry Brendan Taylor. Kyle Jarvis looked like creating some extra pressure with the ball and when he removed Dhawan early for 17, Zimbabwe were hoping to see more of a fight from the rest of the bowlers in an attempt to push India a little.

Rohit fell, chasing a wide one from Chigumbura but thereafter the 159-run partnership between Kohli and Rayudu completely took the game away from Zimbabwe. Coach Andy Waller had said he would be happy even if his wards surprised India in one game, but for that to happen, the bowlers would have a major role to play against some in-form Indian batsmen.
Raza's cultured 82, after being dropped early on the innings would have been pleasing to the eyes. Here was a young man, playing against the best ODI team in the world, making the most of an opportunity. He was too slow in the first half of the innings but accelerated well later on. Chigumbura used all his experience to come up with a brilliant cameo as Zimbabwe pushed towards a respectable score.

Strengths and weaknesses The batting looks good for Zimbabwe. Raza is in nice form, Chigumbura is always there with some useful runs, Sean Williams is fresh from a good series against Bangladesh, while their best batsman, the skipper Taylor is a treat to watch when in full flow. However, it is the bowling that would need to step up and put up a fight if they have to even run India close.

Quotes
'I definitely feel that he's the best in the world right now in the one-day format. He made it a lot easier for me, and I was just looking at the way he was constructing his innings. It's a very good learning experience.' Ambati Rayudu

'We need to take our chances against a quality side like India. We did well with the bat, hopefully our openers will be more positive in the next few matches.' Brendan Taylor