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It is just as cricket lovers would have hoped: India and Zimbabwe go into the final one-dayer at Guwahati with everything to play for. Zimbabwe have played superbly all series, sharp in the field, and almost everybody contributing with bat or ball. India have been as mercurial as ever, but showed, in the fourth one-dayer, signs of the youngsters in the team finally coming through. It's going to be a cracker.

The momentum seems to have shifted ever so slightly to India. Their problem area in the first three matches was how the middle order performed in the middle overs. The 274 they scored in the first match might well have been 300 if they hadn't scored a tawdry 60 in 16 overs after the 25th. And it was just that part of the batting which failed to click when called upon in the third match of the series.

It seemed déjà vu all over again, as India found themselves on 132 for 4, chasing 241, in the fourth match at Hyderabad. But Mohammad Kaif and Yuvraj Singh, both members of the team that won the under-19 World Cup in 2000, finally came good. They did everything right: played with soft hands when required, ran like hares, punished all the bad balls and never allowed the required run-rate to climb too far. And then a magnificent burst by Yuvraj sealed the issue. Zimbabwe did nothing wrong, but they had no answer to Yuvraj's brilliance.

Of course, Yuvraj has done this before; twice, to be precise. His previous matchwinning innings of 84, against Australia, and 98 not out, against Sri Lanka, came in his second and 19th matches respectively. This was his 29th match. India need him to be more consistent; perhaps like his friend and long-time colleague, Kaif, who now averages 49 in one-dayers, and has impressed with his temperament and cricketing savvy every time he's walked out to the middle.

Higher up in the order, things are not so comforting. Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman made fifties in the first two matches, and Rahul Dravid made a superb 66 off 59 deliveries in the second, but they have collapsed miserably in the last two. Ganguly accumulates demons in his head and Dravid and Laxman both have a microscope on them – they're under pressure and it's common knowledge how India handles that little monster.

India would have mixed feelings about their bowling as well. Ajit Agarkar has bowled with a lot of fire in the last two matches, but Zaheer Khan gave away 58 in his 10 at Hyderabad. Harbhajan Singh played his part well but Murali Kartik could not get his act together, and while Ganguly bowled well to finish with 1 for 36 in nine, he's essentially a part-timer and cannot be expected to deliver every time. The fourth bowler not doing well exacerbates the difficulty of the fifth bowler, and Zimbabwe will target just those slots for punishment.

Zimbabwe will go into the match confident in the knowledge that their senior batsmen are in good nick: Alistair Campbell has got three fifties so far, Andy Flower has two from three matches played and Grant Flower came into form with useful forties in the last two. Their fielding has been inspired and their bowling efficient; Pommie Mbangwa in particular, with 0 for 27 in eight overs at Hyderabad and 1 for 31 in ten overs at Kochi, has done a stellar job in the middle overs.

Zimbabwe go into the final match having already gained tremendous respect for the way they've battled; India have everything to lose. That, of course, could work both ways.

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

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

Amit Varma is assistant editor of Wisden.com India.

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