Masakadza's brain freeze

Brendan Taylor has struggled for runs in recent times but it appeared his best chance to turn things around might come at the Queens Sports Club. Taylor has an excellent record at the ground, and despite the loss of the toss he'd have known that the pitch usually settles down after the first hour. Alas, fortune wasn't with him. The ninth ball he faced was delivered by Ravindra Jadeja from round the wicket, landing on middle and spearing past Taylor's bat to strike his pad. The umpire upheld the lbw appeal, though the ball would almost definitely have missed leg stump, and a disconsolate Taylor could barely bring himself to leave the crease.

While Taylor's dismissal was unlucky, Hamilton Masakadza has nobody but himself to blame for his downfall. He had settled in despite the movement on offer for India's quicks, crunching a front-foot pull into the trees beyond square leg for his first boundary. Inexplicably, he then chose to take on Jadeja's arm with a tip-and-run single to point, and for the second time in two games Jadeja's electric fielding brought reward. Masakadza's daft running did, at least, spare him the ignominy of falling once again to Amit Mishra, who had claimed his wicket in all three of the matches in Harare.

Virat Kohli doesn't put many down in the field, but he managed to shell one off Jadeja in the midst of Zimbabwe's meltdown. No. 10 Brian Vitori was given a life, and he celebrated by swatting the very next ball for six over square leg. There was to be no lower-order resistance from Zimbabwe this time, however, and Amit Mishra wrapped up the innings in the next over.

Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina were barely challenged by Zimbabwe's bowlers in the midst of their 122-run partnership. The closest anyone came to separating them was in the 25th over, when Rohit charged down to Prosper Utseya and slammed a powerful drive almost straight at Raina. The ball struck him a stinging blow on the left wrist, and though he was able to complete, a single he required some bandaging on the injured limb in order to continue his innings.