As it Happened: Zimbabwe vs New Zealand, 2nd ODI in Harare

With the series now level at 1-1, the third and final match will be an all important one as it will be the decider. Who will it be? Will Zimbabwe bounce back or will New Zealand overpower their opponents once again? All the answers on Friday. That is all from us today, do join us on 7th August at the same time for the match which will be played at the same venue, Harare.

TOM LATHAM says that hopefully they can continue in the same way in the series. Just like Guptill even he says that they were trying to rotate the strike and get the odd boundaries. They wanted to get a partnership and they were able to get a big one today.

MARTIN GUPTILL says that one is happy whenever one scores a hundred and he was able to get one today. Adds that he tried to rotate the strike and hit the odd boundaries. Further adds that once you see off the initial period it gets easy to play later on. Overall he is pretty happy with their effort today.

There were three centurions today, RAZA, GUPTILL and LATHAM. The jury has decided that, it's not going to be Man of the Match today but it's going to be the Men of the Match. The Kiwi openers, MARTIN GUPTILL and TOM LATHAM for their centuries and a record opening stand.

KANE WILLIAMSON says it was a much improved effort today. The bowlers set the tone early on and the fielding effort was brilliant. The batters were outstanding getting hundreds, both the openers. Also says that Zimbabwe didn't have enough runs to defend the total. You need to keep improving all the time he adds.

ELTON CHIGUMBURA says it was a new game today and it was a disappointing effort by the top order. Adds that, Williams and Raza batted well. Further says it was a good wicket to bat on, just that they did not execute the plans well. The Kiwis did not give them a chance today and hopefully they'll play their best cricket on Friday which is going to be the final.

New Zealand were handed a target of 236 and it was because of a scintillating batting performance by Sikandar Raza. He was given good support by the tail-ender Panyangara. However it was all in vain as the Kiwi openers made it look simple. The wicket was good for batting and the New Zealand openers made good use of it. The Zimbabwe top order failed as Sodhi(3 wickets) and co. did the damage with the ball. They took wickets at regular intervals and it never allowed the Zimbabwe batsmen to get back in the game. However, Chibhabha, Raza and Panyangara did well to take the score to a respectable one after a slow start.

The series has been leveled 1-1 courtesy of some convincing batting performance by New Zealand. The openers have marched towards the target with ease. The Zimbabwe bowlers will have to answer lots of questions as they failed to take a single wicket today. Guptill and Latham both got a century and they never looked in trouble throughout the innings as they set a record opening partnership at this venue to take their team through.

5 Wides! Those are the winning runs. Fires one down the leg side, Latham tries to sweep it but fails to connect. The keeper fails to collect the ball and the ball races away to the fine leg fence. Even the last match ended with the last delivery being a wide one. New Zealand have thumped Zimbabwe BY 10 WICKETS!

Short delivery on middle and leg, Latham has pulled this one to the on side for a couple of runs.