Zimbabwe play India in two Twenty20 games this weekend and even though Zimbabwe recently lost to Sri Lanka in the final of the One day international tri-nation series, they still have many reasons to feel confident. During the group stages they beat India twice and Sri Lanka once, finishing top of the table. In the twenty20 format of the game, they have also had some recent successes, beating Australia and Pakistan in the warm up games to the Twenty20 World cup.

Whilst the two teams have played each other many times recently, this will be the first game between these two sides in the Twenty20 format. So far India have 12 wins and 11 defeats, while Zimbabwe have only played ten Twenty20 games, winning three of them.

FREE – Watch Zimbabwe vs India Live Online

You can watch live streaming of the two Zimbabwe India games live on-line through BetFair

Betfair is an online betting site and all you have to do is open an account with them and you can watch this and many other live sporting events including all of the games in this tri tournament. The best bit of all it is totally FREE – I did it myself and you don’t even have to deposit any money into your account:

To Watch the Games Live:

1. Go to the Betfair Website and create an account
2. Log in to your new account
3. Look for the Zimbabwe game under Sports/Cricket and click the Watch Sport Free on Bet Fair Live Video link on the right, or just look for the Live Video link anywhere on their site.

Updates – If you can’t watch it live, I will be updating this page throughout the day with the scores, just check the Latest Updates at the foot of this page.

Date and Time of the games
Both games take place in Harare, the first match kicks off on Saturday 12th June at 1pm local time (11am GMT), or 12pm British Summer Time. The second game is on Sunday the 13th June at 1pm local time (11am GMT), or 12pm British Summer Time.

Zimbabwe
Zim’s spinners are their strongest card, depriving opposing teams of easy runs, forcing them into mistakes and then taking wickets. In the batting department, keep an eye out for the openers Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor who both go into the game with some great form. Brendan Taylor in particular was almost unstoppable in the tri-series, and will look to cash in with some more runs over the weekend.

Possible Zimbabwe team: 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Brendan Taylor, 3 Tatenda Taibu (wk) 4 Charles Coventry, 5 Andy Blignaut 6 Ervine, 7 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 8 Graeme Cremer, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Greg Lamb, 11 Ray Price.

India
India seem to be of the opinion of “If you can’t beat them, join them” and they have four spinners to choose from, in addition to two spinning allrounders, of whom Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha will expect to make the cut. The seamers were pretty much to a man unimpressive in the ODIs, and it could be a toss-up between Umesh Yadav, Ashok Dinda and Pankaj Singh for two spots. Lack of options could force the side to field Dinesh Karthik and Yusuf Pathan, both notable exclusions for the Asia Cup..

Possible Indian Team: 1 M Vijay, 2 Dinesh Karthik/Naman Ojha (wk), 3 Suresh Raina (capt), 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rohit Sharma, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Pragyan Ojha, 10 and 11 Two out of Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav and Pankaj Singh.

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Latest Updates:

I will be post updates here throughout the day, as well as on my twitter feed and the Chirundu facebook page.

Game Over: India 112/4 (15.0/20 ov), India won by 6 wickets (with 30 balls remaining). Zimbabwe just didn’t make enough and it was clear from the start. Had they scored 160, this would have been an interesting chase. India looked jittery against Mpofu in the beginning and threatened to make heavy weather of this chase but Pathan eased the nerves with some big hits.

3:14pm Another Wicket, this is starting to get interesting again: India 48/4 (7.4/20 ov). RG Sharma stumped †Tatenda Taibu bowled Ray Price 10 (15b 1×4 0×6) SR: 66.66

3:12pm Wicket: SK Raina caught Chigumbura bowled Ray Price 28 (17b 3×4 1×6) SR: 164.70. India 47/3 (7.2/20 ov). India require another 65 runs with 7 wickets and 12.4 overs remaining.

2:52pm Zim needed early wickets and they now have 2: India 12/2 (2.5/20 ov). India require another 100 runs with 8 wickets and 17.1 overs remaining. Last wicket: NV Ojha caught †Tatenda Taibu bowled Chris Mpofu 2 (9b 0×4 0×6) SR: 22.22

2:44pm Zim off to a good start, Mpofu Strikes: India 7/1 (1.0/20 ov) M Vijay c Utseya b Mpofu 5 (5b 1×4 0×6) SR: 100.00. India require another 105 runs with 9 wickets and 19.0 overs remaining.

1:29pm End of Zim’s innings – was hard to watch the end of that as Zimbabwe played terribly. Lets hope that the bowlers can do better when India come out to bat. Zimbabwe 111/9 (20.0/20 ov).

1:19pm Hard to watch this – Zim playing terribly, now 108/9 (19.4/20 ov)

1:12pm Wicket: Craig Ervine (b Dinda 30). Zimbabwe 103/7 after 18.3 overs

11:44am Ogh no, another two wickets in quick succession, Zimbabwe now 81/6 (13.3/20 ov) – not looking good for Zim. Last two wickets: E Chigumbura c Vijay b PP Ojha 3 (9b 0×4 0×6) and GA Lamb lbw b PP Ojha 0 (1b 0×4 0×6)

11:44am Wicket: Zimbabwe 73/4 (10.3/20 ov) CJ Chibhabha lbw b Chawla 40 (30b 5×4 1×6) SR: 133.33. Zimbabwe Run Rate 6.95

11:44am Zimbabwe* vs India, 57 / 3 in 7.0 overs – RR 8.14, Craig Ervine 3(6b), Chamu Chibhabha 29(20b), Pragyan 2.0-0-8-0.

Zimbabwe Dancing Girls

11:15am Zimbabwe fight back, but also loose another wicket: Brendan Taylor lbw bowled Vinay Kumar 15 (9b 2×4 1×6) SR: 166.66. Zimbabwe 30/2 (3.0/20 ov) Run Rate 10.58

11:02am Ogh no Zimbabwe loose their first wicket very early – Hamilton Masakadza c Raina b Vinay Kumar 1 (3b 0×4 0×6) SR: 33.33 and that brings Chamu Chibhabha into bat. Zimbabwe 2/1 (0.4/20 ov)

11:00am Zimbabwe team news: ED Rainsford and Chamu Chibhabha are in replacing Charles Coventry and Graeme Cremer.

Toss India have won the toss and have decided to bowl first.

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

Amazon, have a bunch of Zim related cricket books, including “A History of the Rhodesia and Zimbabwe National Sides” by Jonty Winch who traces the history of cricket in this country (Zimbabwe) from the first recorded game played in 1890, through two World Wars and a guerilla war, to the comparative peace of post-independence and eventual world recognition in the 1980s when Zimbabwe was able to send a side to England to take part in the I.C.C. Trophy competition which it won.

There is also the Autobiography of another great Zimbabwean cricket coach Duncan Fletcher “Behind the Shades”

USA: Amazon.com

Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.com

At the moment Amazon UK don’t have as wide selection as the US site, but I have ordered books from the US and had them delivered to the UK with no problems.

UK: Amazon.co.uk
Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.co.uk

It is not often that I get to write a headline like this and in fact Zimbabwe’s seven-wicket win is our largest victory over India in one day internationals ever! It is also the first time that we have beaten them in back-to-back games in our cricketing history.

Zimbabwe bounced back from their poor showing against Sri Lanka in Bulawayo on Tuesday and as if to prove that their first win over India last Friday wasn’t a fluke, Zimbabwe won even more convincingly – with a bonus point this time, which means that our qualification for the final of this tri-series is highly possible.

India Bat First
The day started well with Zimbabwe winning the toss and deciding to put India into bat and on a slow pitch at the Harare Sports Club, Zimbabwe’s four spinners led by Greg Lamb (3-45) combined beautifully. Our opening bowlers, Andy Blignaut and Ray Price, gave India no free scoring opportunities and it must be said that India’s Dinesh Karthik and M Vijay were also very cautious scoring only 26 runs in the first 10 overs (five of them in wides). The result was to restrict India to a very gettable 194-9, with only Ravindra Jadeja (51) getting a decent score for India.

The Zimbabwe Innings

Watching Zimbabwe’s Tatenda Taibu who was due to come into bat at number 3 sitting on the boundary waiting to come into bat (main picture) was a feature of the day as Zimbabwe’s opening pair of Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza punished the bowlers, adding 128 runs in 26.3 overs, which is Zimbabwe’s highest for the first wicket against India, bettering the 121 between Grant Flower and Alistair Campbell at Vadodara on April 5, 199

When the opening stand was broken, it was man of the match Brendan Taylor who having made 83 in the previous game against India was the first to go as he was caught by Murali Vijay off the bowling of Pragyan Ojha for 74. Taylor was strong on the backfoot, plundering six fours and one six from 90 balls and he has now also scored 1038 runs at Harare and is the only the third batsman to do so, joining Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower (1291) and Grant Flower (1099)

Taibu still had to wait as Zimbabwe who were now obviously already looking for the bonus point win decided to send in Charles Coventry, who scored a brisk 20 of 23 balls.

Masakadza eventually fell for 66 runs off 86 balls after Virat Kohli held on to a great catch from the bowling of Ravindra Jadeja having faced 86 balls and smashed four fours and two towering sixes off spinner Amit Mishra in the 31st over. This was Hamilton’s first fifty against India and his 16th overall.

By this time Zimbabwe were well on course for the win, with Elton Chigumbura (16 not out) and Tatenda Taibu (13 not out) easing the side home with plenty of overs in hand.

After the game Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura said that he “thought all the bowlers bowled really well and when we batted, we knew it was just a matter of getting good partnerships, and Hami and BT batted really well.” He also revealed that he persuaded coach Alan Butcher to play Blignaut instead of Chris Mpofu. – “He is a very fair coach,” Chigumbura said. “Our relationship is good because we meet each halfway. I know what he wants and he knows what I want. For example, today I wanted Andy Blignaut to play and he wanted Chris Mpofu to play.”

Blignaut, returned that faith shown in him and bowled a full spell for Zimbabwe for the first time since his international cricket comeback a few months ago. He has been used mainly as a middle-order batsman who bowled a bit. But today he extracted good movement to claim 1-23 from his 10 overs. “During practice he (Blignaut) has been bowling well and we thought if we drop Chris instead (of Blignaut) it will give us good balance because Blignaut can also bat.”

Zimbabwe Stats

• This is the first time that Zimbabwe has recorded successive wins against India in ODIs. In their previous ODI against India at Bulawayo on May 28, 2010, Zimbabwe won by six wickets.
• Zimbabwe’s seven-wicket win is the 10th against India in ODIs out of 51 played – winning % 21.56 (Lost 39 and Tied 2).
• Zimbabwe’s seven-wicket victory is the biggest over India at Harare and the second biggest against India ever, next only to the eight-wicket victory at Bulawayo on February 15, 1997.
• Greg Lamb’s (3/45) is to date his career-best bowling performance in ODIs.
• Blignaut captured his 50th wicket in ODIs – his victim being Ravindra Jadeja.
• Brendan Taylor’s second half-century (74 off 90 balls) against India is his 19th in ODIs and has now scored 1500 runs at home at an average of 36.58, including twelve fifties, in 48 matches. He has now also scored 1038 runs at Harare and is the only the third batsman to do so, joining Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower (1291) and Grant Flower (1099).

Next Games

The next game in the Series is on Saturday June 5th where India will take on Sri Lanka at the Harare Sports Club and then Zimbabwe play Sri Lanka also at HSC on June 7th. The final is on June 9th.

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

Amazon, have a bunch of Zim related cricket books, including “A History of the Rhodesia and Zimbabwe National Sides” by Jonty Winch who traces the history of cricket in this country (Zimbabwe) from the first recorded game played in 1890, through two World Wars and a guerilla war, to the comparative peace of post-independence and eventual world recognition in the 1980s when Zimbabwe was able to send a side to England to take part in the I.C.C. Trophy competition which it won.

There is also the Autobiography of another great Zimbabwean cricket coach Duncan Fletcher “Behind the Shades”

USA: Amazon.com

Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.com

At the moment Amazon UK don’t have as wide selection as the US site, but I have ordered books from the US and had them delivered to the UK with no problems.

UK: Amazon.co.uk
Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.co.uk

The 4th match in this Tri-Series and the first in Harare sees India take on Zimbabwe on the 3rd of June. Zimbabwe will be looking to bounce back from a poor performance where they lost badly to Sri Lanka in Bulawayo a few days ago, whilst India will be looking for revenge after their defeat to Zimbabwe in the opening game of the tournament.

FREE – Watch Zimbabwe vs India Live Online

You can watch live streaming of the Zimbabwe India game live on-line through BetFair of all places!

Betfair is an online betting site and all you have to do is open an account with them and you can watch this and many other live sporting events including all of the games in this tri tournament. The best bit of all it is totally FREE – I did it myself and you don’t even have to deposit any money into your account:

To Watch the Game Live:

1. Go to the Betfair Website and create an account
2. Log in to your new account
3. Look for the Zimbabwe game under Sports/Cricket and click the Watch Sport Free on Bet Fair Live Video link on the right, or just look for the Live Video link anywhere on their site.

Updates – If you can’t watch it live, I will be updating this page throughout the day with the scores, just check the Latest Updates at the foot of this page.

Date and Time of the game
The match kicks off on the 3rd June at 09:00 local time (07:00 GMT), or 8:00 British Summer Time. In Sri Lanka and India, the match starts at 12:30.
Hours of play (local time): 09.00 start, First Session 09.00-12.30, Interval 12.30-13.15, Second Session 13.15-16.45

Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe need to bounce back from defeat against Sri Lanka and prove that their win against India was not a fluke. To do this, they will have to perform better in all departments. Playing in Harare, which should offer better weather than what was experienced in Bulawayo, giving Zimbabwe a more even playing field. Our spinners will like it, so will our batsmen who struggled when it was overcast in Bulawayo, but made merry when it was sunny. It is not quite the do-or-leave situation, but neither team will want to leave it until they face Sri Lanka, on paper the strongest team in the tournament.

Look out for Hamilton Masakadza, who in both of Zimbabwe’s games so far has got off to a quick start. In the first he failed to convert it into a big score, and in the second game, he found himself out of partners. In his home-town, he will want to continue the starts and ideally finish the job himself. Zimbabwe should have a slightly stronger line up today as Tatenda Taibu comes in for Chris Mpofu

Possible Zimbabwe team: 1 Hamilton Masakadza, 2 Brendan Taylor (wk) 3 Charles Coventry, 4 Greg Lamb, 5 Craig Ervine, 6 Elton Chigumbura (capt), 7 Andy Blignaut, 8 Graeme Cremer, 9 Prosper Utseya, 10 Chris Mpofu, 11 Ray Price.

India
India have gone from the low of losing pretty badly to Zimbabwe to the high of winning against Sri Lanka two days later. A player to watch is Rohit Sharma, who has taken his ODI average from 25.6 to 31.9, has nearly doubled his List A centuries count, and if he gets a century in this game, will equal the world record for centuries in consecutive innings.

Possible Indian Team: 1 M Vijay, 2 Dinesh Karthik/Naman Ojha (wk), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Rohit Sharma, 5 Suresh Raina (capt), 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Amit Mishra, 9 Ashok Dinda, 10 Pragyan Ojha, 11 Umesh Yadav

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Latest Updates:

3:50pm Match over Zimbabwe Win by 7 wickets with over 11 overs to go, so Zim claim the bonus point and are into the final \o/

3:33pm Zimbabwe 173/3 (34.1 ov) Zimbabwe require another 22 runs with 7 wickets and 15.5 overs remaining

3:20pm Wicket: Zimbabwe 161/2 (31.4 ov): Jadeja to Masakadza, OUT, Virat Kohli, pulled to right of midwicket where Virat dives full stretch to take a good catch.

2:57pm Wicket: Zim loose their first wicket, Taylor chips one into the air to long off and an easy catch is taken. BRM Taylor c Vijay b Ojha 74 (90b 6×4 1×6) SR: 82.22. Zimbabwe now 128/1 (26.3 ov). Charles Coventry in early at number 3 (usually bats at number 5) Zim obviously looking for the bonus point that will guarantee them a place in the final. (You get a bonus point if you win in 40 overs)

2:54pm Zimbabwe 128/0 (25.6 ov) and require another 69 runs with 10 wickets and 24.0 overs remaining (Required RR 2.9) Brendan Taylor 72, Hamilton Masakadza 47 Current partnership 126 runs, 26.2 overs, RR: 4.78 (Masakadza 47, Taylor 72)

2:32pm Zimbabwe get to 100 without loosing a wicket: Zimbabwe 101/0 and need 93 to win from 30.3 overs

2:19pm Brendan Taylor goes to 50 not out in his 100th cricket match for Zimbabwe.

2:13pm Current Match Status:

2:00pm Zimbabwe looking good after 10.1 overs: 57/0 require another 138 runs with 10 wickets and 39.5 overs remaining. Brendan Taylor 35, Hamilton Masakadza 20

1:38pm Latest score: Zimbabwe 26/0 (6.3 ov) and require another 175 runs with 10 wickets and 44.0 overs remaining, Required Run Rate of 3.91 Brendan Taylor 18, Hamilton Masakadza 7 Current partnership 26 runs, 6.3 overs, RR: 4.00 (Masakadza 7, Taylor 18)

1:28pm (Zim Time) Zimbabwe make slow start to run chase: Zimbabwe 5/0 (2.6 ov) and require another 190 runs with 10 wickets and 47.0 overs remaining at 4.04 runs per over

12:32pm (Zim Time) End of India’s Innings: India 194/9 (50.0 ov) India RR 3.88. Zimbabwe have some excellent bowling figures, with some excellent economy rates, especially for Andy Blignaut with only 22 runs scored off his full 10 overs:

12:03pm (Zim Time) Wicket: India now 176/8 (44.5 overs) AB Dinda c Taylor b Lamb 16 (17b 1×4 0×6) SR: 94.11. India Run rate: 3.92

11:57am India 158/7 – great to see Harare Sports Club bathed in sunlight and looking so good:

11:31am Phew, I can’t keep up – Zimbabwe get another wicket: India now 128/7 after 37.3 overs: A Mishra caught Charles Coventry bowled Graeme Cremer for 0 (3b 0×4 0×6) SR: 0.00

11:28am Wicket: No sooner as I post an image of the bowling figures and Zim get another wicket. Ray Price gets one now! India are 127/6 after 36 overs. YK Pathan lbw b Price 15 (25b 0×4 1×6) SR: 60.00

11:27am Zimbabwe bowling figures after 36 overs:

10:51am Another run out! – India now 5 down! 95/5 This time it is Elton Chigumbura with some great fielding – go Zimbabwe! Details RG Sharma run out 13 (25b 0×4 0×6) SR: 52.00
Fall of wicket: 95/5 (27.5 ov); Partnership: 3 runs, 1.1 overs, RR: 2.57 (Sharma 2, Jadeja 1)

10:45am There is a direct hit at the stumps – batsman short of the crease India now 4 down! 92/4 Fantastic fielding from Andy Blignaut, he is having a great game after an absence from cricket of 4 years!

10:37am (Zim Time) Wicket: India now 86/3 (25 overs) V Kohli caught Taibu bowled Utseya for 18 (29b 1×4 0×6) SR: 62.06 Partnership: 23 runs, 6.2 overs, RR: 3.63 (Sharma 8, Kohli 15)

10:06am (Zim Time) Another wicket! India now 63/2 (18.4 ov) – M Vijay stumped by †Taibu bowled Lamb for 21 (56b 0×4 0×6) SR: 37.50

10:06am (Zim Time) Zim claim their first wicket and it’s Dinesh Karthik caught by Tatenda Taibu off the bowling of Greg Lamb for 33 (47b 4×4 0×6) SR: 70.21- India are 58/1 after 16.1 Overs run rate 3.58

9:36am (Zim Time) Slow going at the moment for the Indians, with Andy Blignaut bowling well : End of over 7 (1 run) India 18/0 (RR: 2.57) M Vijay 4* (20b) KD Karthik 9* (22b 1×4) RW Price 3-0-11-0 AM Blignaut 4-0-7-0

9:22am (Zim Time) India 11/0 (4.3 ov) Dinesh Karthik(rhb) 6 Murali Vijay 1

9:00am (Zim Time) Zimbabwe have won the toss and elected to field. Knowing what total to chase seems to work well for Zimbabwe. There is one change to the team, Zim have replaced the only specialist medium-pacer, Chris Mpofu with wicketkeeper-batsman, Tatenda Taibu. India are with the same team that thrashed Sri Lanka, giving the M Vijay-Dinesh Karthik opening combination another go.

Pitch report from CricInfo: Neil Manthorp reckons there would be a bit in it for the seamers for the first thirty minutes. However, he reckons this is the least amount of grass cover on this pitch that he has seen in some time. Some bald patches. Spinners should come on later in the game. Zimbabwe have four spinners.

7:32am (Zim Time) Good morning everyone, hope you had a good nights sleep and that you are ready for some cricket. The weather in Harare: A chilly 8°C start to the day and the forecast is good with a high of 21°C. It looks like it is going to be a typical winters day in Zim – sunny & no chance of rain!

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

Amazon, have a bunch of Zim related cricket books, including “A History of the Rhodesia and Zimbabwe National Sides” by Jonty Winch who traces the history of cricket in this country (Zimbabwe) from the first recorded game played in 1890, through two World Wars and a guerilla war, to the comparative peace of post-independence and eventual world recognition in the 1980s when Zimbabwe was able to send a side to England to take part in the I.C.C. Trophy competition which it won.

There is also the Autobiography of another great Zimbabwean cricket coach Duncan Fletcher “Behind the Shades”

USA: Amazon.com

Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.com

At the moment Amazon UK don’t have as wide selection as the US site, but I have ordered books from the US and had them delivered to the UK with no problems.

UK: Amazon.co.uk
Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.co.uk

Brendan Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza and Craig Ervine helped Zimbabwe clinch an excellent six-wicket victory over India in the first game of the Tri-Nations series in Bulawayo.

Zimbabwe won at a gallop with 10 balls and six wickets to spare in the first of two matches between them in a series which also includes Sri Lanka.

All of Zimbabwe’s to 6 batsmen, led by man of the match Brendan Taylor, contributed significantly towards the victory as they overtook a good Indian total of 285-5 to record an impressive 289-4 in reply. The home team performed with skill and a certain amount of confidence, setting about their task of overtaking the Indian effort in both workmanlike and spectacular manner, as varying situations demanded.

Earlier on in the day during India’s innings, Rohit Sharma smacked four sixes in 114 from 119 balls and Ravindra Jadeja added an unbeaten 61 in India’s 285-5. The one blot on Zimbabwe’s day was the bowling performance of new captain Elton Chigumbura, who contrived to give away no fewer than 20 wides in his two overs – something for the Guinness Book of Records if they had such a category! Chigumbura said afterwards he had problems with his technique but he praised his colleagues for their “superb overall performance.”

But Hamilton Masakadza (46) and Taylor (81) gave Zimbabwe an excellent start by putting on 88 for the first wicket. Ervine smashed an unbeaten 67 and captain Elton Chigumbura weighed in with 24 not out as the hosts powered home with 10 balls to spare.

“Hami [Masakadza] and BT [Brendan Taylor] put us on top with their first-wicket partnership,” Chigumbura said. “It was also good to see Craig score a half century on his debut. The guys did well. The main focus now is to be consistent and we are working on that at the moment.”

India captain Suresh Raina praised Zimbabwe but blamed the defeat on his team’s inexperience.
He said: “They batted really well, to be honest. They deserved to win. “Some of the team have never played at this level. However we should have been able to defend 285 runs.

The next match in the series is on Sunday May 30th and sees India take on Sri Lanka at Queens Sports Club, whilst Zimbabwe’s next match is on Tuesday June 1st against Sri Lanka also at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo.

For Full Match fixtures and how you can watch the games live: Zimbabwe Cricket Tri-Series

Selected Match Statistics:

• Zimbabwe have registered their ninth triumph against India in 50 ODIs (Lost 39 and Tied 2) – winning % 20.00
• Craig Ervine’s unbeaten 67 off 60 balls is the best innings score on debut for Zimbabwe against India in ODIs.
• Ervine’s innings of 67 is the fourth best on debut for Zimbabwe in limited-overs internationals.
• Greg Lamb (27) has recorded his best ever innings in ODIs, bettering the 23 against West Indies at Providence on March 6, 2010.
• Zimbabwe’s convincing six-wicket win is their third in eleven ODIs against India in Zimbabwe.
• Brendan Taylor (81) has recorded the second highest innings by a wicketkeeper for Zimbabwe against India in ODIs. Andy Flower had registered 145 at Colombo RPS on September 14, 2002.

Zimbabwe Cricket Books

Amazon, have a bunch of Zim related cricket books, including “A History of the Rhodesia and Zimbabwe National Sides” by Jonty Winch who traces the history of cricket in this country (Zimbabwe) from the first recorded game played in 1890, through two World Wars and a guerilla war, to the comparative peace of post-independence and eventual world recognition in the 1980s when Zimbabwe was able to send a side to England to take part in the I.C.C. Trophy competition which it won.

There is also the Autobiography of another great Zimbabwean cricket coach Duncan Fletcher “Behind the Shades”

USA: Amazon.com

Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.com

At the moment Amazon UK don’t have as wide selection as the US site, but I have ordered books from the US and had them delivered to the UK with no problems.

UK: Amazon.co.uk
Zimbabwe Cricket on Amazon.co.uk

ZIMBABWE returns to major international cricket at home as a Tri-Series with India, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe begins today, however what is disappointing is that both Sri Lanka and India a resting some of their key players.

The series was organised after New Zealand cancelled their tour of Zimbabwe for the second time, basing their decision on insecurity and preferring to play at a neutral venue.

The triangular will be played from May 26 to June 14 with games played at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo and at Harare Sports Club in Harare.

The series will be new coach Allan Butcher’s first home assignment since his appointment in late February.

Watch Zimbabwe v India live stream online

If you are looking to watch the games live on-line, I have found that this can be done via BetFair of all places!

All you have to do is open an account with Betfair and you can watch this and many other live sporting events including most of the games in this tri tournament. The best bit of all it is FREE – I have just done it myself and you don’t even have to deposit any money into your account – just create an account, log in and then look for the Zimbabwe game under Sports/Cricket and click the Watch Sport Free on Bet Fair Live Video link on the right.

Click here to go to betfair.com and watch Zimbabwe cricket live.

Zimbabwe News
The major Zimbabwe news before the tournament was that Prosper Utseya resigned as captain of Zimbabwe, handing over a formal resignation letter following a meeting with the managing director of Zimbabwe Cricket. His replacement in the position is allrounder Elton Chigumbura.

Zimbabwe (possible team) 1 Vusi Sibanda, 2 Hamilton Masakadza, 3 Charles Coventry, 4 Brendan Taylor, 5 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 6 Elton Chigumbura (capt.), 7 Andy Blignaut, 8 Greg Lamb, 9 Graeme Cremer/Prosper Utseya, 10 Chris Mpofu, 11 Ray Price.

Sri Lanka
Tillakaratne Dilshan will lead Sri Lanka in Zimbabwe in the absence of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, both of whom have been rested.

Sri Lanka squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Chamara Kapugedera, Suraj Randiv, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Chamara Silva, Thissira Perera.

India
Suresh Raina will lead a second-string India squad for the ODI tri-series in Zimbabwe and the Twenty20s which follow, with Virat Kohli as his deputy. Among the first-choice players who are either rested or injured are regular captain MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Praveen Kumar.

India Squad: M Vijay, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Suresh Raina (capt), Virat Kohli (vice-capt), Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Ashok Dinda, Pankaj Singh, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha, Naman Ojha and Piyush Chawla will join the squad for the Twenty20s.

Tri-Series Fixtures:

• May 28 – Zimbabwe v India Queens Sports Club
• May 30 – India v Sri Lanka Queens Sports Club
• June 1 – Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka Queens Sports Club
• June 1 – India travel to Harare
• June 2 – Sri Lanka travel to Harare
• June 3 – Zimbabwe v India Harare Sports Club
• June 5 – India v Sri Lanka Harare Sports Club
• June 6 – Rest/Practice
• June 7 – Zimbabwe v Sri Lanka Harare Sports Club
• June 9 – Final Harare Sports Club
• June 10 – Sri Lanka depart Zimbabwe
• June 12 – Zimbabwe v India – 1st Twenty20 match Harare Sports Club
• June 13 – Zimbabwe v India – 2nd Twenty20 match Harare Sports Club