ZIM vs NL 1st ODI Match Prediction

ZIM vs NL Team Previews

Zimbabwe

The Zimbabwean side is being led by Craig Ervine in the ODI series. They were not too impressive in their last series against the West Indies. They will need a more determined effort from most of their players. They are well versed with the conditions on offer at the Harare venue and they have a good batting line-up. The senior players from the team will have to put their hands up and lead from the front. They will need to guide the youngsters to get an effective performance from them.

Quick and early loss of wickets during their innings has been a continuous problem for the Zimbabwe team management. Innocent Kaia and Wesley Madhevere will have to deliver a decent start to the Zimbabwean innings in this match. Their middle order has some experience and you will get an opportunity to see players of the caliber of Sikandar Raza, Gary Ballance, and the skipper Ervine trying to set up big partnerships. Other important batters such as Clive Madande and Sean Williams will have to lift the scoring rate lower down the middle order.

Zimbabwe is going into this match with a bowling attack that is perfect for the conditions. They will be expecting tight lines and length from the new ball bowlers such as Richard Ngarava and Tendai Chatara. Other bowlers playing on the side such as Blessing Muzarabani and Wellington Masakadza are going into this game with plenty of experience to their credit. They will try desperately to control the opposition's scoring rate. Other support bowlers such as Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza add a lot of depth to this bowling attack.  

Netherlands

The Netherlands team will be led by Scott Edwards in this game and the series. This team is entering this contest on the back of a terrible record. They have not won a single match in a couple of years. Their batting line-up has been inconsistent at best and the bowling attack lacks the sufficient bite to it. These are all major problems for the Netherlands team. They are up against much stronger opposition in this game. Their team members will need to play positively in the game to have any hopes of dislodging the Zim.

The Netherlands' top order will be in the hands of Vikramjit Singh and Max O'Dowd. These batters playing near the top of the order will have to put up some quick runs on the board for the rest of the batting to do well. The Netherlands' batting order is a decent one but they will need to get some partnerships out of players such as Tom Cooper, Colin Ackermann, and Bas de Leede. There are some big hitters in the squad such as Teja Nidamanuru and Scott Edwards who are capable of using the long handle to good effect to add some quick runs during the death overs.

The Dutch bowling attack will have to stick to their plans for the team to feel confident in this game. Their opening ball bowlers Vivian Kingma and Fred Klaassen will need to get early breakthroughs for their team. Some other bowlers from this bowling attack that bowl in the middle overs are Paul van Meekeren and Tom Cooper. They will need to bowl a decent line in the middle overs when the bowling attack is likely to leak a lot of runs. The team management will also be hoping for tight spells from bowlers such as Nidamanuru and Shariz Ahmed.