The venue may have changed rom Bulawayo to Harare, but the Indian team's situation hasn't. After much debate and deliberation, Sourav Ganguly was re-appointed captain of team India. But the job only got tougher. Not only did Ganguly have to justify his presence, but the task of reviving the team after the recent insipid performances was an onerous one. After two matches, India are yet to convince their ardent fans that the batting line-up is a self-assured lot.

New Zealand meanwhile were threatening to run away in the tri-series. In an astonishingly belligerent display in the opening match, Stephen Fleming and in particular, Lou Vincent tore apart the Zimbabwean bowling to shreds. Vincent, brought in to bolster the batting, scored 170 runs off just 120 balls in a awe-inspiring display of flamboyant batting. Fleming's ninety-three was naturally overshadowed although the New Zealand proved equal to the task. Zimbabwe's bowling appeared toothless as New Zealand surged to a insurmountable 397.

Brendon Taylor and Stuart Carlisle made a cautious but steady start. But the looming target and the impending pressure did Zimbabwe in and once again, it was Heath Streak who showed signs of the defiant fight with an unbeaten forty-five. Ringing in the new changes in one-day internationals made little difference to Zimbabwe's woes. Vettori though proved a worthy 'supersub' with three wickets.

The Indian team were a distraught lot even as they left Indian shores with schedule mismanagement and a grumpy coach who moaned the lack of a preparatory camp. Further travel accommodations proved irksome still. India started off well, reducing New Zealand to thirty-six for five as Ashish Nehra bowled a probing line. Irfan Pathan too joined the party. But Ajit Agarkar was the loose link. Craig McMillan (fifty-four) and Brendon McCullum (forty-eight) resurrected New Zealand to a respectable 215.

But the tables turned dramatically for India. Shane Bond gave the skipper a good work-over in the first over and then set about sending the opposition to the dark ages. India plummeted to forty-four for eight, Bond on fire with five scalps. Jai Prakash Yadav and Irfan Pathan saved India the blushes and undoubtedly recriminations in the dressing room with a century stand that promised to deliver, but fell short and perhaps deservedly so. India adopted a five bowler strategy, a wiser move but it was Yadav's all-round ability that was brought to the fore. That India collapsed on 164 and not ignominiously less was due to the valiant half-centuries from Yadav and Pathan. Bond finished with a magnificent 6-19. India's performance against the Kiwis would certainly have Zimbabwe fancying their chances. Sehwag couldn't take the field but that did not stop the think-tank from tinkering with the batting line-up yet again. The unsettled scenario and the over-cautious approach certainly made the Zimbabwean attack look more incisive than it really was. That India eventually doodled their way to 226 was as much due to Mahendra Singh Dhoni's blistering half-century as paced knocks by Mohammad Kaif and later Yuvraj Singh.

But the bowling certainly needed no encouragement. Pathan was in terrific form with his first five-wicket haul as Zimbabwe spiralled despairingly to thirty-six for eight. Pathan's prodigious swing and guile exposed the woeful condition of cricket in Zimbabwe. Apart from Heath Streak, the only Zimbabwean to look competent with ball and bat, and Prosper Utseya was the only batsman to reach double digit runs. Ajit Agarkar's second outing in the series was successful as he plucked four wickets. That Zimbabwe would struggle was a foregone conclusion, but that they would succumb to sixty-five all out just shy of the twenty-five over mark was a dismal sight.