AUS VS ZIM - 3rd Match, Australia and Pakistan in Zimbabwe T20I Tri-Series, 2018

Three one-sided games in the tournament so far and Australia have a foot in the final already with their consecutive maulings. Zimbabwe and Pakistan will face off tomorrow in what will be a crucial game, especially for the hosts as a defeat for them will knock out. Pakistan too cannot afford a loss because things could get slippery. Let's hope that the two sides give us the first close game of this tri-series. On that note, this is Hariprasad signing off on behalf of Sriram and our scorer Mukesh. Cheers!

Finch, Australian captain and Man of the Match: (On his innings) Good to get a few out of the middle and break a record. I thought we were a bit sloppy in the field today to be honest and Zimbabwe came out firing, as we expected with such a total. But we could have been polished in the fielding I guess. (On mixing the bowlers on a dry pitch) Short showed some skill, also Agar, Tye and Maxwell. Shows that there is very little margin for error on such tracks. We bowled really well in the middle part (Where this knock ranks) Right up there obviously, highest individual score and these might not happen often, so it's special.

Masakadza, Zimbabwe captain: Just when we thought it couldn't get tougher after the first game, it did. Credit to him (Finch), he played really hard. Tough to stop a player when he goes like that. I think we can bowl a bit better first up, in the Powerplay where we have conceded a lot in both the games. Apart from that, we've done decently, especially our top order but need support from others. Need someone to take responsibility. Hopefully, we can turn things around tomorrow against Pakistan.

Time for the presentations.

13:14 Local Time: Clinical from Australia! If they were ruthless with the ball yesterday, it was the bat that did the damage today. Skipper Finch's record-breaking century all but settled the deal at the half-way mark itself. Zimbabwe needed a miracle to even make a match of it and though their top order played a few adventurous strokes, the challenge was always going to be beyond them. Australia's bowlers shared the spoils evenly with Tye and Agar being the pick of the bowlers. So, that's two successive pounding wins for Australia on successive days that virtually books them a spot in the final. Their NRR is sky-high and it will take something practically improbable to knock them out from hereon. Some questions for Zimbabwe to answer, the bowling of course suffered but their batting lacks depth as well. Interesting to see how they deal with it when they face Pakistan tomorrow.

Tye to John Nyumbu, no run, fine yorker around off, Nyumbu jams it out towards the man at cover. Zimbabwe bat out the overs but that doesn't change things. Biggest win by runs in T20Is for Australia!

Loud cheer from the crowd after that last ball was negotiated because Zimbabwe cannot be bowled out inside the full quota.

Tye to Muzarabani, 1 run, tries the yorker, ends up as a low full toss that's bunted down to long-on

Tye to John Nyumbu, 1 run, fullish around off, walks across and glances it down to fine leg for a run

Tye to John Nyumbu, FOUR, uppish but Nyumbu has found the gap. Short of a length, he was backing away as he looked to upper cut this. Was in the air for a while, was well wide of the third man fielder as it raced to the fence

Tye to John Nyumbu, no run, back of a length wider outside off, Nyumbu wanted to punch off the back foot but gets an under edge on the bounce to Carey

Tye to John Nyumbu, no run, full and outside off, push-driven off the front foot towards extra cover

Stoinis to Muzarabani, no run, slower ball around off, Muzarabani waits for it and defends down the track

Stoinis to John Nyumbu, 1 run, back of a length around middle and leg, worked away on the leg-side for a single

Stoinis to John Nyumbu, no run, just past the off pole. Nyumbu gets lucky. Full and angling in from around off, he wanted to work across the line but this just straightened a bit off the pitch to beat the outside edge and misses the sticks too

Stoinis to John Nyumbu, no run, very full and outside off, pushed towards the man at cover

Stoinis to John Nyumbu, no run, back of a length outside off, low bounce undoes Nyumbu as he misses the cut

John Nyumbu, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Stoinis to Mpofu, out Caught by D Arcy Short!! Stoinis joins the party with a wicket. Back of a length, no pace at all as Mpofu looks to power it away. Skews it straight up in the air and Short settles under it near the short mid-wicket region. Australia on the brink of successive thrashing victories in this tri-series. Mpofu c D Arcy Short b Stoinis 3(16)

Stoinis to Mpofu, THATS OUT!! Caught!!