Zim v Ind, 3rd ODI Review: India whitewash Zimbabwe with another easy win

The third and last ODI match of the series had the same script as that of the first two matches, where the hosts batted first, lost wickets early, tried to build a few partnerships, lost wickets in a cluster towards the 100-run mark and in reply, the Indian top-order chased the target down quite easily.

For a change, Zimbabwe skipper Graeme Cremer won the toss and elected to bat first on a batting friendly wicket. Dhawal Kulkarni and Barinder Sran started off well hitting good line and lengths and in the urge to get the scoreboard moving Hamilton Masakadza stepped down the track to Kulkarni and was only able to edge it to KL Rahul at first slip.

Chamu Chibhabha and Vusi Sibanda added 36 runs for the second wicket and Sibanda along with Timycen Maruma added 34 runs for the third wicket. Chibhabha fell to the leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal while trying to hit him over mid-off for a six. He got to the pitch of the ball but didn’t have enough power to get it over the big straight boundary and ended up in the hands of Jasprit Bumrah, who took a clean catch near the boundary ropes.

Chahal, who had put down Sibanda earlier in the match, held on to a leading-edge off his own bowling to give India the third wicket. There on it was a disastrous slide for Zimbabwe as they lost 4 wickets in 4 balls. Maruma played outside the line of a Bumrah delivery which cut back in from outside off to take an edge and rattle his timber. Chigumbura was dismissed for a first-ball duck edging Bumrah to the safe hands of MS Dhoni.

Have a look at: CricToon: Makhaya Ntini finds the tomato tree after the 3rd ODI

On the first ball of the next over, Malcolm Waller was run out while trying to steal a single after punching it to covers. Rahul, moving to his left had enough time to lob the throw to Dhoni, who shattered the stumps. Zimbabwe skipper was the next batsman and was caught plumbed in front of the stumps to an arm-ball from Axar Patel. Thus with another dismal batting display, the hosts were blown from 104/3 to 104/7 and eventually crumbled out for 123.

Indian openers KL Rahul and the debutant Faiz Fazal in reply, posted the highest powerplay score in the series of 43 runs and gave India the best start and went on to complete the chase on their own. Fazal became the third Indian after Robin Uthappa and Rahul to score 50 or more on international debut. Fazal and Rahul remained unbeaten on 55 and 63 respectively.

How did Twitter react to the game? – Twitter Reactions: India crush Zimbabwe by 10 wickets, secure a 3-0 whitewash

With this win the young Indian team led by skipper MS Dhoni completed a 3-0 clean sweep over Zimbabwe who still have a lot of work to do before they can get any close to beating any of the Test playing nations and if this sort of show has to continue, the ICC would definitely have to reconsider their Test status.

Brief Scores:

Zimbabwe: 123 all out (Vusi Sibanda 38, Jasprit Bumrah 4/22, Yuzvendra Chahal 2/25)

India: 126/0 (KL Rahul 63*, Faiz Fazal 55*)

Man of the match: KL Rahul

Player of the series: KL Rahul