India v Zimbabwe Prediction: Look to the Sky…and Bumrah

Zimbabwe

A day after India’s demise at the hands of SA, Zimbabwe were being dealt a hammering of their own.

But it may all have been very different had they held onto a straightforward catch when Shimron Hetmyer found the fielder early on; he went on to make 85, the Windies 254.

Zimbabwe’s bowlers were hit all over the park and that’s not a scorecard they’ll want to be looking at anytime soon.

They certainly had a go at it early on, but the Windies were good in the field, bowling well and taking their catches, meaning the game was up by the 3rd or 4th over of the chase, as if it wasn’t already.

Fast bowler Brad Evans smashed an unlikely 43 off 21 to make the margin of victory a little more respectable, but they’ll take a few positives from the game.

Pitch and conditions

We’re at Chennai. Afghanistan managed exactly 200 here against a poor Canada bowling unit, while the USA managed 196 against the Netherlands, suggesting this is a far better wicket than what we normally see in the IPL.

If given the chance, India will probably look to bat first, get to about 230 and basically do to Zimbabwe what the West Indies did to Zimbabwe in a bid to drastically improve their net run rate (NRR).  At least the weather is fine.

0.5pts Back Sky Yadav to be India Top Batsman @ 10/3

The theory on many people’s minds may well be that only Abishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan are worth considering in this market.

That if batting first one of them will get to 70-80 in a hurry just like Hetmyer did and that will be that. But it may not turn out that way. Sharma had three ducks in a row before making 15 against SA, while Kishan got a duck of his own against the Proteas. So, feast or famine for Kishan and pretty much just famine for Sharma.

I suppose another theory also goes that if Zimbabwe only posts about 140, then one of those openers won’t give anyone at 4 or 5 a chance, either. But the latter could get to about 170 on such a good track if batting first, so that theory isn’t a given either.

And remember, the openers will be going hell for leather with NRR in mind, and that could go one of two ways.

So it may be left to Sky Yadav batting at four to combine aggression with smart thinking. He rescued them with a brilliant 84 not out against the USA, and though he didn’t pass 50 since then, he hasn’t looked out of nick as such, including a couple of 30s.

7/2 is a reasonable price for a man of his ability, and he may arrive at the crease sooner than you’d think.