Green could return as dominant Australia seek series sweep

After a slight stumble with the bat in the opening game of the series, it was difficult to pick holes in Australia's performance on Friday as they dominated throughout, particularly in light of losing Billy Stanlake to injury, which left Mitchell Marsh juggling his collection of spinners.

Without taking away from the relevance of these matches - next year's ODI World Cup is a major focus - for those involved in the Test series against South Africa next month, there were also good signs with Travis Head emerging from a relatively lean run with a destructive 75-ball hundred and Josh Hazlewood continuing the good rhythm he showed against Bangladesh last month.

There have also been encouraging signs for the future with Cooper Connolly making his third fifty-plus score in a row - becoming the youngest Australia men's player to do so in ODIs - and Ollie Peake producing a spectacular flourish at the death to further highlight his immense talent in a difficult role.

Zimbabwe did not completely wilt under the onslaught, and for a time their spinners threatened to take the air out of the innings, especially when Alex Carey was labouring, but they were always on the back foot.

The batters had few problems making starts, but much greater ones converting them: seven of the top eight reached 23, but Sikandar Raza's 45 was the top score. Zimbabwe's 272 was the fourth-highest ODI total not to include a half-century. Four years ago, when they toured Australia, they were comfortably beaten in the first two matches of the ODI series before conjuring victory in the final outing. They would dearly like a repeat.

Form guide

Zimbabwe LLLWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia WWWLL

Since Brian Bennett made 169 against Ireland in February 2025, he has gone nine ODI innings without passing 48. He has twice made starts in this series with scores of 25 and 23 - falling to a poorly-executed reverse sweep against Matt Renshaw in the second match - but his strike rate is sitting only a nudge above 70 and with fellow opener Ben Curran's at 62.50, there is a tempo problem at the top of the order.

Australia's management sees Josh Inglis as a key part of their batting plans for next year's World Cup. He came into the 2023 edition after one match when he leapfrogged Carey in a major selection call. But he hasn't got going in this series, falling to a tremendous catch by Brendan Taylor in the first game and then popping the ball back to Wellington Masakadza in the second. There won't be concerns yet - it's only five games ago that he was coming off back-to-back fifties against Pakistan - but a career ODI average of 29.23 doesn't reflect his ability.

Team news: Green in line to return

Zimbabwe may consider mixing things up with the series decided. It could be an opportunity to give youngster Tadiwanashe Marumani an outing, although the current top order is probably the strongest available from the squad. They also have legspinners Ryan Burl and Graeme Creamer if they opt for a different bowling balance.

Zimbabwe (probable): 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Ben Curran, 3 Innocent Kaia, 4 Brendan Taylor (wk), 5 Craig Ervine, 6 Sikandar Raza (capt), 7 Wessly Madhevere, 8 Brad Evans, 9 Newman Nyamburi, 10 Wellington Masakadza, 11 Blessing Muzarabani

Australia (probable) 1 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 2 Travis Head, 3 Cooper Connolly, 4 Josh Inglis (wk), 5 Cameron Green, 6 Matt Renshaw, 7 Ollie Peake, 8 Nathan Ellis, 9 Adam Zampa, 10 Josh Hazlewood, 11 Spencer Johnson

Pitch and conditions: More runs on offer

The general consensus was that the pitch for the second match was more conducive to free-flowing batting than the first was. There has been some early movement in both games, although perhaps not to the extent envisaged by the early starts. The spinners have found some assistance at times.

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