Zimbabwe (197 for 4 in 44.2 overs; Campbell 71, G Flower 49) beat India (191 in 48.2 overs; Kaif 56, Bangar 36, Hondo 4-37) by 6 wickets
scorecard

Zimbabwe pulled 2-1 ahead in the five-match series with a convincing six-wicket win in the third one-dayer. Their bowlers did a fine job in the morning, aided by some reckless batting by the Indians. Then, chasing a meagre 191, Alistair Campbell scored a polished 71, his third consecutive half-century, to ensure that there would be no hiccups.

The pitch was unlike the previous ones at Kochi – it was two-paced, the bounce was inconsistent, and the spinners got appreciable turn. But as Zimbabwe's batsmen showed later in the day, it was hardly a sub-200 wicket.

Both teams were without key players – Zimbabwe were missing Andy Flower with a strained hip, while Anil Kumble's injured shoulder ruled him out. But Zimbabwe's replacements shone – Pommie Mbangwa returned figures of 1 for 31 from 10 overs, and Man of the Match Douglas Hondo prized out the top three Indian batsmen to finish with 4 for 37. Meanwhile Sarandeep Singh, Kumble's replacement, went for 49 runs in eight overs, and clearly let Sourav Ganguly down.

The Indian seamers bowled with fire, though. Ajit Agarkar was the pick of them, keeping excellent control over line and length, and moving the old ball appreciably.

He gave India an early breakthrough, bowling Dion Ebrahim off the inside edge for 3 (13 for 1). Zaheer Khan soon got into the act, when pinch-hitter Travis Friend was bowled off his pads by one that kept low. Friend made 15, and at 39 for 2, India must have sniffed an opportunity.

That was soon snuffed out as Campbell and Grant Flower got together. Knowing that the asking rate was never a problem, they went about their task quietly, knocking Harbhajan Singh, the main Indian threat, into the gaps for singles. Harbhajan went for only 29 in his 10 overs, but crucially, failed to pick up a wicket. Zimbabwe had clearly won that battle.

At the same time, both batsmen went after the lesser bowlers. Sarandeep was swept and driven down the ground with ease, and never settled into a consistent line and length. His first three overs cost 25, and Ganguly was forced to pull him out of the attack.

He came back later from the other end and, bowling with eight men in the ring, had Campbell stumped by Ajay Ratra (144 for 3). But by then, the damage had already been done, and Zimbabwe were well on their way.

It was a gem of an innings from Campbell. He overcame a jittery start, when Zaheer had him hurrying into his shots and streaking a cover-drive past leg stump, but soon got into his groove with a couple of fours off Agarkar. And when the spinners came on, Campbell was in control, gliding the singles expertly and eschewing all risks. His innings ensured that Andy Flower's absence wasn't felt at all.

Grant Flower played his part perfectly, and was dismissed for 49 when he nicked Agarkar to Ratra (173 for 4). Captain Stuart Carlisle and Craig Wishart kept a cool head as Zimbabwe neared the target, and Wishart took them to victory with an emphatic six over midwicket off Dinesh Mongia.

Earlier, India made a mess of it after Ganguly had won the toss and elected to bat. They started poorly, and had lost their top four by the 13th over.

Dinesh Mongia was the first to go, when he was adjudged lbw to Hondo for 4 to a ball which pitched outside leg stump (10 for 1). VVS Laxman raced to 20 off 24 balls, but then chased a wide one from Hondo and was caught behind by Tatenda Taibu (38 for 2).

Ganguly hobbled his way unconvincingly to 11, then lost his head and charged at Hondo, only to lose his middle stump (49 for 3). Rahul Dravid soon followed, slashing Mbangwa to Wishart at deepish slip for 6 (51 for 4).

Mohammad Kaif and Sanjay Bangar then got together to produce an 86-run partnership for the fifth wicket in 21 overs. They started off by milking the singles, but upped the scoring rate gradually. Bangar lofted Grant Flower over cover for four, while Kaif pulled Mbangwa for a six over midwicket, then on-drove Doug Marillier for four.

Just when things were looking brighter for India, Bangar threw it away, pulling a full-toss from Marillier to Hondo at deep midwicket. Bangar made 36 off 67 balls (137 for 5). The wheels suddenly came off for India, as the next five wickets tumbled for 54. Kaif's assured innings ended when he flicked Streak to Wishart at midwicket (157 for 8), and with the tail refusing to wag, 191 was all that India could muster.

As Campbell showed later, it was woefully inadequate.

Teams
India 1 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 2 Dinesh Mongia, 3 VVS Laxman, 4 Rahul Dravid, 5 Sanjay Bangar, 6 Mohammad Kaif, 7 Ajay Ratra (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Zaheer Khan, 10 Harbhajan Singh, 11 Sarandeep Singh.

Zimbabwe 1 Alistair Campbell, 2 Dion Ebrahim, 3 Travis Friend, 4 Stuart Carlisle (capt), 5 Grant Flower, 6 Craig Wishart, 7 Douglas Marillier, 8 Heath Streak, 9 Douglas Hondo, 10 Tatenda Taibu (wk), 11 Pommie Mbangwa.

S Rajesh is sub editor of Wisden.com India.

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