Harare Sports Club pitch report today match: India and Zimbabwe would be playing their tenth bilateral ODI series starting today.
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Ahead of the much anticipated Asia Cup 2022 slated to commence in the final week of this month, team India have arrived in Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club to take on the hosts in a three-match ODI series, the first of which will begin in a couple of hours from now.
Both the sides are set to lock horns against each other in an ODI bilateral series after six years, with India clinching the previous away three-match series 3-0, in June 2016.
As for recent form, India have won each of their previous three series in the format – against West Indies (home), England (away), and most recently West Indies again (away). They would be led by wicket-keeper batter KL Rahul, who makes a return back after prolonged injury and battling against COVID-19.
As for Zimbabwe, who have all to play for as far as their 2023 World Cup qualification chances are concerned, the Regis Chakabva-led side would not be short of confidence, having defeated Bangladesh 2-1 in the ODI series, just a week ago.
#TeamIndia ready for the first ODI against Zimbabwe 🙌#ZIMvIND pic.twitter.com/Hg0yUSGYAA
— BCCI (@BCCI) August 18, 2022
Harare Sports Club pitch report today match
As per India vice-captain Shikhar Dhawan, the Harare Sports Club is most likely to be served with ‘great batting wickets’ in this ODI series.
During the recently concluded ODI series involving Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at this venue, pitches were batting-friendly in all the three matches, with the side batting first posting above 250 runs in each of them.
As for the bowlers, the pacers are likely to get some assistance with the new ball considering a morning start. The spinners, on the other hand, are likely to have a much better say comparatively, with the pitch developing a tendency to slow down a tad as the match progresses, as was witnessed during the previous series here.
In fact, the three of the top-5 wicket-takers in the last ODI series here were the spinners.
All in all, expect the batters to enjoy their time out there in the middle across all the three ODIs.
