ZIMBABWE vs INDIA 2nd T20I PREVIEW : CONFIDENT ZIMBABWE EYEING SERIES WIN
After beating India in the first T20I by a narrow margin of 2 runs, Zimbabwe will look to seal the series in the 2nd T20I itself at the Harare Sports Club, Harare. On the other hand, Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be hoping for a better performance from his team mates to stay alive in the series.
First time in the 11 days, Zimbabwean batsmen managed to offer a sound challenge for the visitors. After the complete failure in the 3-match ODI series, Zimbabwean batsmen took the Indian bowlers and played with authority. First time in the series, Zimbabwean openers could manage to put a decent start. Elton Chigumbura who back to back got out on ducks in the last 2 ODIs, played an explosive knock of unbeaten half century and by virtue of it Zimbabwe posted a challenging total of 170 runs on the board which was probably a par score as Mahendra Singh Dhoni reckoned that 150 was a par score on that pitch. Zimbabwe will look forward to repeat their performance in the second T20I too.
On the other hand, India’s batting performance in the first T20I was not up to the mark. All the top batsman apart from KL Rahul, could not convert their good start to a match winning effort. They will be eyeing to rectify this as well. Mahendra Singh Dhoni and co. could go through some changes as the Indian captain said in the post match media conference that Indian team was not playing with the best XI. So team management could bring back Kulkarni and Sran in the playing eleven for the do or die encounter.
So it will be interesting to see whether India manage to stay alive in the series or the hosts clinch the series in the second Twenty-20 International.