The Harare Sports Club is buzzing with excitement as India won the toss and elected to bat first against Zimbabwe in the thrilling third T20 match on Wednesday.
With the series finely poised at 1-1, the stakes are high for both teams. India’s captain, Shubman Gill, expressed confidence in the decision to bat first. “We’ll bat first. Hopefully, the moisture will help us,” Gill remarked.
On the team lineup, Shubman added, “We’ve got the WC back, Sanju (Samson), (Yashasvi) Jaiswal, and Shivam (Dube) are in. So is Khaleel (Ahmed), Mukesh Kumar rests for this one. We feel we have a balanced side.”
Zimbabwe skipper, Sikandar Raza, appeared unfazed by the toss result. “We were going to bowl first either way. The surface isn’t as moist as the first, not very flat. We’ll see the seamers coming into the contest and expect some slow turn. Hopefully, the boys have learnt a few lessons from the second game. We need to back our bowlers and keep them to as low a total as possible,” Raza commented.
Zimbabwe will introduce Tadiwanashe Marumani to replace the slightly injured Innocent Kaia.
With India’s emphatic 100-run victory in the second T20I fresh in their minds, the team looks poised and confident. The stage is set for a nail-biting encounter, and the toss has already added an intriguing twist to this decisive match.
Teams:
Zimbabwe (Playing XI): Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wessly Madhevere, Brian Bennett, Dion Myers, Sikandar Raza(c), Johnathan Campbell, Clive Madande(w), Wellington Masakadza, Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Tendai Chatara
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhishek Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Sanju Samson(w), Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Khaleel Ahmed.
