Singapore T20I Tri-Series: Singapore vs Zimbabwe, 3rd T20I, Preview - Hosts look for their first win after losing to Nepal

We are slowly and steadily moving towards the business end of the tournament. Each side has played its opening fixture and after the end of it, Zimbabwe and Nepal have a win each under their belt while hosts Singapore are still to get off the mark.

After suffering a defeat to Zimbabwe in the opening fixture, Nepal got off the mark today at the expense of hosts Singapore. And, it took something special to get off the mark. A Paras Khadka special. Earlier, we talked about how Khadka’s form is at the heart of Nepal’s fortunes and it could not have been vindicated more prudently.

The Nepal captain pulled off a blinder of a knock- a knock that saw him smash the Singapore bowlers to the tune of 106 off just 52 balls- to help his side make a mockery of the target [151]. Khadka also became the first captain to score a T20I hundred in a run-chase. 

Khadka’s knock and how he went about his things, spearheading his peck, should be a great lesson for Zimbabwe’s skipper Sean Williams. Williams got off to a winning start to his captaincy career but he would be the first one to agree it could have been worse had Ryan Burl [41] and Richmond Mutumbami [40] not stitched that match-winning partnership. 

The top-order was reduced to tatters in the last game with three batsmen including skipper Williams got out for a duck. With the likes of Hamilton Masakadza and Brendon Taylor no longer available, Sean Williams will have to take the onus upon himself on leading the inexperienced batting-unit; something which will be fascinating to see on Sunday.

The hosts, meanwhile, will hope that they shrug off the hammering they received at the hands of Paras Khadka and start-off afresh against Zimbabwe. Tim David will once again be the spearhead with the bat while they will hope their bowling unit delivers tomorrow.

Team Combination:

Singapore

To be fair, Singapore did not do too much wrong in the last game. It was the pure genius of Paras Khadka that stonewalled them to a crushing defeat. The batting-unit-led by skipper Tim David’s 44-ball 64, did decently well against Nepal with the likes of Surendran Chandramohan [35] and Janak Prakash [25*] chipped in with handy contributions.

Prakash was the lone contributor with the ball too [1-10] and he would hope others chip-in too against Zimbabwe. Will they make a few changes in their bowling? We’ll have to wait and see!

Probable XI

Rohan Rangarajan, Surendran Chandramohan, Tim David [c], Manpreet Singh [wk], Navin Param, Janak Prakash, Aryaman Sunil, Anantha Krishna, Vinoth Baskaran, Selladore Vijayakumar, Sidhant Singh

Bench: Amjad Mahmboob, Aahan Gopinath Achar, Avi Dixit, Arnita Dutta, Reszq Gaznavi, Arjun Mutreja, Utsav Rakshit

Zimbabwe

Despite pulling off that win against Nepal, Zimbabwe will hope their top-order comes good tomorrow. As many as three batsmen were knocked over for a duck including skipper Sean Williams and were only for the partnership between Ryan Burl and Richmond Mutumbami that they were able to overhaul Nepal’s target. It will also be interesting to see whether Ryan Burl gets a promotion in the batting order.

Probable XI:

Brian Chari, Regis Chakabva, Peter Moor, Sean Williams (C), Tinotenda Mutombodzi, Ryan Burl, Richmond Mutumbami, Wellington Masakadza, Neville Madziva, Tendai Chatara, Daniel Jakiel.

Bench: Tony Munyonga, William Mashinge, Timycen Maruma, Richard Ngarava.

Focus will be on

Sean Williams (ZIM)

Williams got off to a great start to his captaincy career courtesy a victory against Nepal but the right-hander didn’t have a particularly good game with the bat. Paras Khadka showed how to lead a team from the front, can Williams take the leap from his book?

Tim David (SNG)

Williams can seek inspiration from Tim David too. The Singapore captain once again gave vindication of his form, scoring a swashbuckling 44-ball 64. He will once again be the key to Singapore’s fortune tomorrow.

Stat Attack

1st: This will be the first-ever T20I between Zimbabwe and Singapore.

Live streaming & Broadcasters:

Willow TV (Canada), Fan code (India), Wec Sports (Singapore) and Singapore cricket association Facebook & YouTube.

Match Timing: 5:00 PM IST | 7:30 PM local | 11:30 AM GMT