India v Zimbabwe: Back Taylor to star in a losing cause

Richard O’Hagan
12 March 2015

This could be Brendan Taylor's last appearance in Zimbabwe colours

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India have comfortably won Pool B, whilst their opponents have struggled to last the pace despite some good performances. Richard O'Hagan finds some value in a dead rubber...

"Taylor almost took Zimbabwe over the line single-handedly in their thrilling loss to Ireland and this is likely to be his last game for his country as he’s applied for Kolpak status in order to play county cricket in England in future."

India v Zimbabwe
Saturday at 0100 GMT
Live on Sky Sports 2

India

There's a case to be made for India being the surprise team of this tournament, despite being the reigning World Cup champions. They came into the competition with no wins in any meaningful competition since arriving in Australia at the start of November, and yet now they sit unbeaten at the top of Pool B and look certain to reach the semi-finals at the very least.

Most pleasing for coach Duncan Fletcher and captain MS Dhoni will be that this turnaround has, for once, been a team effort. The bowling has at long last provided a counterpoint to the batting excellence of the likes of Virat Kohli, whilst their fielding, whilst never brilliant, has been markedly improved. Although the temptation must be there to rest players now that the group win is assured, the need to maintain consistency is likely to mitigate against this.

Zimbabwe

Things haven't really gone Zimbabwe's way in this World Cup, as a number decent performances have been rendered fruitless by a combination of bad luck, reckless batting and injuries. In truth, they have put up stronger opposition than many expected and have improved as the tournament has gone on.

Sean Williams, Brendan Taylor and, to a lesser extent, Hamilton Masakadze have produced strong batting performances, but the bowling attack has looked very average and you'd expect them to struggle against India's in-form top three of Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Kohli.

Venue and Conditions

Another problem for Zimbabwe is that the short boundaries at Eden Park will play right into the hands of India's big hitting batsmen. Although the temptation of these has caused both Australia and South Africa to come unstuck in this tournament, the weaker Zimbabwean bowling could be in for a tough time.

Match Odds

The market is being surprisingly generous to Zimbabwe, pricing them at just 7.06/1. Those odds are just too short to be attractive, even for an outside chance of an upset, with India at just 1.132/15.

Top India Batsman

Given the lack of pace and penetration in the Zimbabwean attack, it makes sense to stick at the top of the order. In truth any of those top three could be on for a big innings here, but it makes sense to go with Rohit at anything over 4.216/5 as, being the lesser known of the trio and also the man who usually faces the first ball of the innings, he has in theory got the best chance of making a score.

Top Zimbabwe Batsman

Taylor almost took Zimbabwe over the line single-handedly in their thrilling loss to Ireland and this is likely to be his last game for his country as he's applied for Kolpak status in order to play county cricket in England in future. Back him to bow out in style at odds of 4.1.