India and Zimbabwe will meet in what will be the final Super 12 group match for both countries at this year’s T20 World Cup at the MCG in Melbourne on Sunday, November 6th. The match is scheduled to begin at 7 pm local time.
Head to head
The pair have played each other seven times before in T20I cricket and India leads the head to head record by five wins to two for Zimbabwe.
India looking to get the job done
India are already virtually guaranteed of appearing in the semi-finals, and, depending on the result of the match between South Africa and Pakistan, could yet advance as group winners. That is an advantage because, theoretically it gives them the easier semi-final, although, at this level, nothing can be guaranteed.
Still, they will not want to go into the knock-out stages with another loss under their belt, having already been beaten by South Africa.
The team will be aware that they were somewhat fortunate to beat Bangladesh, with both the weather and the intricacies of the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) system working in their favour. They will not want to make themselves vulnerable to such circumstances working against them.
Zimbabwe’s hopes over
Any faint hopes Zimbabwe may have had of reaching the semi-finals were effectively extinguished when they were beaten by the Netherlands in Adelaide by 5 wickets.
However, as they head home they can look back on an eventful tournament, beginning with the first group matches, where they qualified top of the group, despite being beaten by the West Indies, courtesy of victories over Ireland and Scotland.
Their first Super 12 match with neighbours South Africa ended in farce, with the match called off due to bad weather, just when it appeared they were about to lose. They then edged out Pakistan by a single run in a dramatic finish in Perth, but successive defeats to Bangladesh and the Dutch proved highly damaging in the end.
Key players
Virat Kohli
It is impossible to look past the form of Virat Kohli with the bat in this competition so far, with three fine knocks under his belt so far. He is the leading run scorer in the competition, and seems integral to India’s chances of lifting the trophy for the first time since 2007.
Sikandar Raza
Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza has seen involved in much of what Zimbabwe have done right in this tournament, and he will want to finish with another good performance, knowing that T20 franchise owners from around the world will be watching.
Blessing Muzarabani
The Indian batting line up have already had problems with one African pace bowler in Lungi Ngidi of South Africa, so they should treat Blessing Muzarabani with respect. He has already claimed 11 wickets whilst he has been in Australia, but would like add a few more to his tally.
Predicted teams
Whilst India may be considering changing their team to give a few players a rest ahead of a potential semi-final, the temptation should be resisted. They tried that against South Africa, and it came unstuck for them. Instead, they need to rely on the same starting XI that finished the match against Bangladesh, unless there have been any undisclosed injuries.
Zimbabwe will also start with the same team, although they do not have the same strength in depth anyway.
The weather
Fortunately the weather for Sunday in Melbourne is forecast to be dry and partially sunny, with temperatures more like normal for Australia for this time of year. This match should be decided on the pitch, and not by a computer using the DLS methodology.
Prediction
India should win this match with comparative ease, although they have made harder work than they would have liked of some of their victories so far. As much as anything, though, they will be looking for good performances to carry some self-belief into their semi-final, with their likely opponent already having been known by then.
Zimbabwe can go into the match with no pressure on them and with little left to prove, their chances of World Cup progression already effectively over.
But, if they could finish having claimed a major scalp, it will make the journey home a lot sweeter.
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