admininternationals at Harare Sports Club.
Having fallen 2-0 against the Black Caps in the Twenty20 series which the hosts first lost by 10 wickets on Saturday before a 34 run defeat on Monday as Zimbabwe failed to get wickets, the hosts face another daunting task.
It has been more than 10 years since the two side last met – on bilateral terms – in the 50 overs game where Zimbabwe won four of the last seven ODIs between 2000 and 2001 and this was way before Zimbabwe isolated themselves from the Test world.
Led by captain Brandon Taylor, Zimbabwe made a welcome return to the longer version of the game winning the ODI series 3-2 against Bangladesh and this was their last win in limited overs.
But Zimbabwe have been missing the services of wicketkeeper/batsman Tatenda Taibu due to an injury while Vusi Sibanda is expected back in the squad having missed out following the death of his mother.
New Zealand are coming from a six-month break from the international scene but showed little signs of being rusty in the T20 games and they look determined to continue the same form tomorrow.
The hosts’ last win in the limited overs games was when they beat Bangladesh Zimbabwe in mid August and they went on to suffer two defeats to the same side before falling on three occasions against Pakistan but they are hoping for a better show against New Zealand today.
They have been struggling with the bowling attack proving very undisciplined in the past games while New Zealand came out with guns blazing to punish Zimbabwe for all the mistakes they made.
It is mainly the batting line up that New Zealand are banking on and captain Ross Taylor believes this will be the pinnacle of their wins in the games to follow especially the opening duo of Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum.
“The opening partnership was outstanding (in the T20 series). To get over 100 two games in a row sets a benchmark.
Brendon and ‘Guppy’ (Guptill) batted sensibly and complemented each other very well,” said Ross Taylor.
“Both Brendon and Guppy have played really, really well.
“It’s an ideal opportunity in this country, because the batting conditions are very good. Their stroke play has been encouraging. We haven’t had a lot of batting outside the top three, but that will address itself in the 50-over format,” added New Zealand coach John Wright.
“I played a lot of cricket when I was in Derbyshire so there were no stiff legs after the first game and that was quite handy.
“We started off very well in the first Twenty20 and to back it up with a batting and bowling performance like that (in the second T20) is very pleasing.”
ODI Squads
Zimbabwe: Brendan Taylor(c), Tatenda Taibu(wk), Chamu Chibhabha, Elton Chigumbura, Kyle Jarvis, Hamilton Masakadza, Keegan Meth, Chris Mpofu, Forster Mutizwa, Ray Price, Vusi Sibanda, Prosper Utseya, Malcolm Waller, Natsai Mushangwe
New Zealand: Ross Taylor (captain), Graeme Aldridge, Doug Bracewell, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Andy McKay, Kyle Mills, Rob Nicol, Jacob Oram, Jesse Ryder, BJ
Watling, Kane Williamson, Luke Woodcock.
Online Reporter