India a stroke away from whitewash

Chinouya,though,can be pardoned for his comical exit. He after all had walked in at No.11 following yet another abysmal display by his colleagues who are expected to possess more batting skills than the Zimbabwean fast bowler. So inept were the likes of Brendan Taylor amp; co against the wiles of Mishra and Ravindra Jadeja earlier in the day though that you couldnt have expected anything better from the man at the toe of the hosts batting line-up. Also read: Can Zimbabwe avoid whitewash?

Hasty end

Chinouyas first-ball dismissal brought a hasty end to Zimbabwes innings blown away for just 144. Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina then scored unbeaten half-centuries to canter the world champions home with almost 20 overs to spare,and leave India one win away from a 5-0 sweep.

At least in Harare,the Zimbabweans had the excuse of having been put into bat on two occasions in tough batting conditions with the ball playing tricks for a major part of the day. The wickets and conditions at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo though have always been renowned for being in favour of the batsmen. Rather than buoy the hosts,it only accentuated the lack of quality in the Zimbabwean batting ranks. Also read: We just need to finish well,says Chigumbura

While Zimbabwes woes continued to mount,matters only got sweeter for the visitors with out-of-form batsmen regaining form. More importantly,they also discovered another capable new-ball bowler.

Mohits memorable debut

In his maiden international appearance,Mohit Sharma couldnt have made a more memorable impression with the ball. There was movement in the air and the Haryana pacer made the most it. Up against his swing and accuracy,the hosts top-order looked completely out of depth. Difficult to bowl in powerplays,says Mohit Sharma

In the first three ODIs,one of the openers had at least put in a notable performance and saved their teams blushes. Against Sharma and Shami Ahmed,Sikander Raza and Vusi Sibanda were often caught in their crease and searching for the ball outside the off-stump. Raza was soon on his way,having edged an away-going delivery from Sharma.

While a lack of batting technique was responsible for the openers struggles against the new ball,Hamilton Masakadza displayed a lack of cricketing acumen by hitting a ball close to the fastest Indian fielder and attempting a suicidal single.

Jadeja sauntered in to send Sibanda and Taylor packing,both perishing to the cardinal sin of playing around a straight delivery from within their crease.

The rest too had no clue as to what Jadeja and Mishra were dishing out as Zimbabwe stumbled 49/5. The middle-orders collapse only followed the trend of the current series; save the openers,Zimbabwes middle-order have contributed just 232 runs at an average of 14.5.

Eltons last stand

Ironically,the only Zimbabwean to have shown even a semblance of fight has walked in repeatedly at No.7. For the umpteenth time,it wasnt until Elton Chigumburas arrival that the match resembled a contest. On Thursday,the lanky all-rounder once again provided some resistance,eventually scoring a half-century despite the chaos all around him. Mohit,who finished with figures of 2/26,and Mishra blew away the tail,leaving Chigumbura stranded on 50.

The only glitch for the visitors was debutant Cheteshwar Pujaras failure to make the most of his maiden ODI appearance,with the Saurashtra right-hander being bowled for 13. Raina,who walked in at No.3,and Rohit utilised the pleasant batting conditions and the buffet of loose deliveries from the deflated Zimbabwean bowling attack as India put to rest the few lingering discrepancies of what has been an almost-perfect show so far.