Big picture - Australia look to get stronger, Zimbabwe sharper
Australia were far too good in game one despite some good individual performances from Zimbabwe to keep them in the contest until quite late. Matt Renshaw's century made a middling Australia innings get to above par after Newman Nyamhuri's five-wicket haul before Nathan Ellis tore through Zimbabwe's line-up either side of an excellent partnership between Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raza that kept hopes alive for longer than might have been otherwise.
The visitors are likely to welcome back Cameron Green and Josh Hazlewood for game two. Green missed game one with a shoulder issue while Hazlewood was rested. Their inclusion will strengthen Australia's weak points. They lacked some power in the death overs and Green is set to come back into the middle-order where he could combine well with Renshaw if the top order can lay a platform.
Green's bowling also means there's a bit more variety and wicket-taking ability in the overs that will make up Australia's fifth bowler, something that was exposed by Ervine and Raza's partnership. Hazlewood adds new ball venom, which should set things up nicely for Ellis and Adam Zampa outside the powerplay.
Zimbabwe rued some ill-discipline with the ball. Loose deliveries throughout the innings allowed Australia off the hook despite top order mistakes. They will want their new ball bowlers to return to the blueprint they followed in their T20 World Cup win in Colombo when they strangled Australia's batters. They also gave up 13 wides and Raza bowled three no-balls with two of the subsequent free-hits disappearing over the fence. Their catching too was hit and miss.
Form guide
Zimbabwe LLWWL (last five ODIs, most recent first)
Australia WWLLL
In the spotlight: Innocent Kaia and Travis Head
Innocent Kaia has come back into ODI calculations on the back of his Test hundred against Bangladesh in June. But after a three-year absence from the ODI team, his four innings against Bangladesh and Australia have looked similar to the run he went on in 2023 before losing his place. He has made starts of 26, 25 and 18 in three of his four innings without kicking on. There were two glorious strokes in his 18 from 19 on Tuesday, one a sumptuous cover drive and the other an emphatic pull shot, but his dismissal was a soft one, not reading Ellis' renowned slower ball, which is the first thing to look for in any planning to face Australia's white-ball specialist. Zimbabwe would love for him to convert a start in this series.
Travis Head has so many credits for Australia that there is no pressure on him from a selection standpoint. However, he is stuck in a Groundhog Day loop with his recent dismissals in all formats. He has chopped on in his last four international innings and five of his last seven going back to the T20 World Cup. Two of those have come at the hands of Brad Evans in Colombo and then Harare on Tuesday. Teams are bowling smarter to him, but he is yet to make the appropriate adjustments. Bowlers will continue to ask the same questions by starving him of width. Head needs some different answers.
Team news: Green and Hazlewood could return
Zimbabwe had three offspin options in game one, which made sense given Australia had five left-hand batters in their top seven, but they combined for one wicket and gave up 99 runs from 16 overs. A legspinner in Ryan Burl or Graeme Cremer could be considered, especially if Australia add another right-hand batter back into their line-up.
Zimbabwe (possible): 1 Brian Bennett, 2 Ben Curran, 3 Innocent Kaia, 4 Brendan Taylor (wk), 5 Craig Ervine, 6 Sikandar Raza (capt), 7 Wessly Madhevere/Ryan Burl, 8 Brad Evans, 9 Wellington Masakadza/Graeme Cremer, 10 Newman Nyamhuri, 11 Blessing Muzarabani
Green, if fit, and Hazlewood would be automatic inclusions for game two. Alex Carey is the most vulnerable in the middle-order despite a key steadying partnership with Renshaw in the first game. Hazlewood will likely replace Spencer Johnson as the latter is almost certainly not going to be risked in back-to-back games. Billy Stanlake could be considered for Xavier Bartlett too as they continue to experiment with bowling combinations.
Australia: 1 Travis Head, 2 Mitchell Marsh (capt), 3 Cooper Connolly, 4 Josh Inglis (wk), 5 Cameron Green/Alex Carey, 6 Matt Renshaw, 7 Ollie Peake, 8 Xavier Bartlett, 9 Nathan Ellis, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood
Pitch and conditions: Good surface expected again
Tuesday's pitch was a good all-round surface that offered a bit for everyone with the exception of proper pace and bounce for the quicks. Australia's decision to bat first was a surprise but proved a good one as the pitch did slow up a touch later in the day and there wasn't too much early morning sideways movement for the quicks. Both sides will expect something similar on Friday.
Stats and trivia
Adam Zampa is one wicket away from becoming the seventh Australian to take 200 ODI wickets.
Brendan Taylor now has the longest ODI career in terms of days, surpassing Sachin Tendulkar.
Only five times in ODI history have two players aged 40-plus batted together, and two of those partnerships came in game one between Brendan Taylor, Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raza.
