Zimbabwe conclude their unfortunately short but encouraging tour of Australia on Saturday when the two nations head back to Townsville for the third and final ODI of what has been the sort of series many expected it to be.
In the main Australia have dominated it and have already won the series but Zimbabwe will be encouraged to be playing high level of opposition once again and have one last chance to show they should be doing it more often.
Australia
Other than 20 points which they didn’t really need in the World Cup qualifying standings, Australia were never really going to get much out of this series. It was one of those where they had little to gain and everything to lose. The important thing is that two matches in they haven’t lost anything and key players are getting into a groove ahead of what should be a more competitive series against New Zealand next week.
If there is a problem with this series for Australia it is that it is that early in the Australian cricket calendar that the pitches aren’t really close to what they will play on later in the summer so it is hard for their batters to get any real practice and rhythm. That might have to come next week in Cairns but for now they are getting plenty of overs and confidence into their bowlers and ahead of a sustained spell of white ball cricket that is no bad thing.
Zimbabwe
I would imagine Zimbabwe will have mixed feelings about this series so far. They will have been delighted to have been competitive in the opening match but then less pleased that with a key man back for the second game that they let themselves down a little with the bat in hand. This was always going to be a tough assignment for Zimbabwe but if they could have been competitive in all three games they would have come away feeling good about themselves. At least if they can do that again here they will take something away with them.
I think most people expected the Zimbabwe bowling to struggle a bit on this tour. They are bowling to a very strong Australia batting unit, so strong that Marnus Labuschagne can’t get into it at the minute, and they have been found wanting a little the longer an innings has gone on. Zimbabwe actually looked competitive with the bat in hand in that opening game but were on their knees in the opening 10 overs of the second one and couldn’t recover. The batting will need to be counted here.
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Team News
Australia are yet to get Marnus Labuschagne and Sean Abbott involved from the start of a match yet in this series. They could wait until the New Zealand one but it would make more sense for the two to play here and someone like Mitchell Starc get a rest.
Zimbabwe will be hoping that they have Blessing Muzarabani available for the final match to at least give their bowling a little more pep. If he is he could come in for Brad Evans who has been expensive in both of the matches to date.
Betting
Sean Williams missed the opening match of the series because of injury but in the second game he played and scored 29 despite not getting much of a chance to adjust to the conditions ahead of the contest. You would imagine that someone of his class will come on for the run so to speak. That is what happened against India where he scored one in the first game and then 42 and 45 in the next two matches. That makes me think his performance line of 25.5 is manageable.
That 29 was with wickets falling around him after he walked out in the fifth over so if Zimbabwe do a better job of negotiating the new ball he should find batting a little easier. Williams can’t just score with the bat. He is a tidy spinner and three matches here in a week could see spin carrying a bit of an advantage. He is Zimbabwe’s best player so he is going to be in key positions in the field as well so with three scoring possibilities I see no reason why the Zimbabwe man won’t cover this line.
Tips
Back S.Williams’ Performance – Over 25.5pts for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
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