Zimbabwe vs Australia, 3rd ODI: What’s Left Today to Play For After Australia Sealed the Series?

By the CRIC INFO 365 Desk | 19 September 2026

Australia have already won this three match ODI series 2-0, so Sunday’s third and final game Zimbabwe vs Australia at Harare Sports Club is a dead rubber on paper. But that description undersells what’s actually at stake. Australia want a clean sweep and a few individual milestones along the way, while Zimbabwe are trying to avoid a whitewash on home soil, in the same ground where they will co-host the 2027 ODI World Cup.

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When and Where Is the 3rd ODI Zimbabwe vs Australia?

The match is at Harare Sports Club on Sunday, September 20, starting at 9:30 AM local time. That works out to 7:30 AM GMT, 1:00 PM IST, and 5:30 PM AEST for anyone trying to plan their watching schedule around a different time zone.

All three matches in this series have been played at the same ground, which is unusual for a bilateral tour but not unheard of when a smaller cricket board is hosting. According to ESPNcricinfo’s series page, this is the first time Australia have toured Zimbabwe in over a decade, which on its own makes this series worth paying attention to regardless of the scoreline.

Zimbabwe vs Australia Series Snapshot

Detail	Information
Series	Australia tour of Zimbabwe, 2026
Format	3 match ODI series
Venue	Harare Sports Club, Harare (all 3 matches)
Series result so far	Australia lead 2-0
3rd ODI date	Sunday, September 20, 2026
Zimbabwe captain (this series)	Sikandar Raza, standing in
Australia captain	Mitchell Marsh

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How Did Australia Take a 2-0 Series Lead?

The Zimbabwe vs Australia first ODI set the tone early. Australia posted 294 for 8, and Matt Renshaw scored a maiden ODI century to anchor the innings. Zimbabwe were bowled out for 235 in 45.1 overs, with Nathan Ellis taking a five wicket haul for Australia. It’s worth noting that Newman Nyamhuri also took five wickets for Zimbabwe in that same match, and fifties from Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raza gave the innings some respectability, but the total was never close enough. Australia won by 59 runs.

The Zimbabwe vs Australia second ODI was more one sided. Zimbabwe won the toss and chose to bowl, a decision that backfired quickly. Travis Head reached his century off just 75 balls and finished with 112 from 84, Cooper Connolly added 78, and Mitchell Marsh chipped in 53, with Ollie Peake finishing things off with a quick unbeaten 41. Australia posted 356 for 6. Zimbabwe’s chase never really got going, and they finished well short. During that innings, Adam Zampa also picked up his 200th ODI wicket, a genuine career milestone that got a little lost in the scoreline.

What these two results actually show is a gap in depth more than a gap in top end talent. Zimbabwe’s senior players, Raza and Ervine in particular, have shown they can compete with the bat. The problem has been finishing innings and containing Australia’s middle order once the platform is set, which is exactly the kind of thing that shows up over a full 50 overs rather than in a shorter format.

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Why Is Zimbabwe Playing Without Its New Captain?

This is a detail a lot of quick match reports skip, but it matters for understanding Zimbabwe’s leadership situation heading into a World Cup they’re co hosting next year. Zimbabwe Cricket recently named pace bowler Richard Ngarava as the new white ball captain, a fairly significant call given he’s a bowler rather than a specialist batter. But according to Cricket Australia’s series guide, Ngarava is missing this entire series with a back complaint, leaving Sikandar Raza to fill in as stand in skipper.

That’s not a small thing to navigate a year out from a home World Cup. Raza is a proven leader and one of the squad’s best players, but every match he captains instead of Ngarava is a match Zimbabwe don’t get to see their actual designated leader operate under pressure. It also says something about squad depth that the plan B captain is arguably a stronger overall player than the plan A choice, which raises a fair question about whether Ngarava was named captain for his bowling leadership qualities specifically, or simply because Raza, at 39, won’t be around forever.

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What Does History Say About Zimbabwe vs Australia in ODIs?

The headline number here is stark. Australia and Zimbabwe have played 33 ODIs against each other, and Australia have won 29 of them. On the surface, that makes the current 2-0 scoreline look like business as usual.

But that all time record is doing a lot of quiet work to make this series look more predictable than recent history actually supports. Zimbabwe won a three match ODI series against Australia 2-1 as recently as 2022, and that series was played in Australia, not in conditions that favoured the visitors. That result doesn’t get mentioned nearly as often as the 29-3 head to head record, but it’s the far more relevant data point for anyone asking whether Zimbabwe are capable of competing with this Australian side specifically, rather than Australian teams in general across three decades of lopsided history.

Zimbabwe vs Australia Head to Head at a Glance

Stat	Figure
Total ODIs played between the sides	33
Australia wins	29
Zimbabwe wins	3
Most recent Zimbabwe series win vs Australia	2022, won 2-1, played in Australia
Current series scoreline	Australia lead 2-0

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Does the Harare Sports Club Pitch Actually Favour Chasing in Zimbabwe vs Australia?

This is worth digging into properly, because the historical data and this series don’t actually agree with each other, which is a genuinely useful thing for anyone trying to predict tomorrow’s toss decision.

Based on the venue’s overall ODI history, the team batting second at Harare Sports Club has won slightly more often, 108 wins to 96 for the team batting first. That’s a modest edge, not a dominant one, but it’s the kind of number that usually gets teams leaning toward chasing when they win the toss.

Except in this specific series, both matches so far have been won by the team setting a total, not the team chasing it. Zimbabwe chose to bowl in the second ODI, based on that broader historical trend, and it went badly. That mismatch between what the ground has done across its full history and what’s actually happened in these two matches is exactly the kind of detail that should influence tomorrow’s toss thinking more than the long run numbers.

According to sportsdunia’s prediction analysis, Raza may well choose to bat first if he wins the toss this time, simply because chasing hasn’t worked for his side in either of the first two games, regardless of what the ground’s long term record suggests.

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What Should Zimbabwe Change for the Zimbabwe vs Australia 3rd ODI?

A few things stand out watching the first two matches back. Zimbabwe’s top order batters, Raza and Ervine specifically, have shown they can build innings against Australia’s attack. The issue has been what happens after that platform is laid, both with the bat in the middle overs and with the ball when trying to defend or restrict a total.

Specifically, Wessly Madhevere and Blessing Muzarabani have struggled with the ball across this series, and Zimbabwe’s bowling attack overall hasn’t found a way to slow down Australia’s middle order once Head, Connolly, and Marsh get set. If there’s one adjustment worth watching for tomorrow, it’s whether Zimbabwe’s bowling plans change against that specific trio, since containing any one of them individually hasn’t been enough so far when the others have kept scoring around them.

The batting first decision, discussed above, is the more obvious tactical lever available. But the bowling problem is the deeper one, and it’s not something that gets fixed by a single toss decision. Part of the challenge is that Zimbabwe’s attack doesn’t have a clear enforcer once the new ball loses its shine.

Muzarabani is the closest thing to a strike bowler this squad has, but he needs support through the middle overs, and neither Madhevere’s part time off spin nor Masakadza’s left arm spin has consistently applied pressure when Australia’s batters have simply waited a couple of overs before targeting the weaker option in an over. Fixing that isn’t something Zimbabwe can do by Sunday. But naming Cremer alongside Masakadza, rather than leaning on part time options, at least gives Raza two recognised spinners to rotate through the middle overs rather than one.

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Who Are the Players Worth Watching Zimbabwe vs Australia in This Dead Rubber?

Matt Renshaw’s rapid transformation. A little more than a year ago, Renshaw wasn’t part of any Australian squad in any format. His maiden ODI century in the first match of this series is the latest step in what’s become a genuinely fast climb back into all three Australian teams at once, and it’s worth watching whether he can back it up with another solid contribution rather than treating that century as a one off.

Adam Zampa building on 200 wickets. Reaching 200 ODI wickets mid series is the kind of milestone that can go under the radar in a game Australia won comfortably, but it puts Zampa in genuinely rare company among Australian white ball spinners, and how he bowls in this dead rubber, with less pressure attached, is worth watching in its own right.

Zimbabwe’s veteran core. Four players in Zimbabwe’s squad, Raza, Ervine, Brendan Taylor, and Graeme Cremer, will all be over 40 by the end of this series. That’s a genuinely unusual amount of experience concentrated in one squad, and it says as much about a gap in emerging talent as it does about the value these players still bring. Watching how much of the workload still falls on this group, rather than younger names like Brian Bennett or Innocent Kaia, is a fair way to judge how far Zimbabwe’s rebuild actually has to go before their 2027 home World Cup.

Taylor’s continued involvement in particular is a story on its own, given his career has already included a well documented retirement and comeback, and his presence in a squad this experienced says something about how thin Zimbabwe’s depth chart still is at international level, more than a decade after he first debuted.

Whether Zimbabwe can avoid the whitewash. Beyond individual milestones, there’s a simple team level question worth asking heading into Sunday. Zimbabwe have not managed to finish either of the first two matches competitively, and a third straight loss without a real fight would be a genuinely poor look ahead of hosting a World Cup in a little over a year’s time. A tighter contest, even in a loss, would tell selectors and fans more about where this rebuild actually stands than either of the first two results have.

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What Are the Probable Zimbabwe vs Australia Playing XIs?

Neither side has confirmed a final team sheet for Zimbabwe vs Australia, but based on the squads named and the personnel used across the first two matches, here’s the likely look of both sides.

Australia (probable XI)

#	Player	Role
1	Matt Renshaw	Opening batter
2	Travis Head	Opening batter
3	Cooper Connolly	Top order batter
4	Mitchell Marsh (captain)	All rounder
5	Josh Inglis	Wicketkeeper
6	Ollie Peake	Middle order batter
7	Nathan Ellis	Pace bowler
8	Josh Hazlewood	Pace bowler
9	Xavier Bartlett	Pace bowler
10	Adam Zampa	Spinner
11	Billy Stanlake	Pace bowler

Zimbabwe (probable XI)

#	Player	Role
1	Ben Curran	Opening batter
2	Tadiwanashe Marumani	Opening batter
3	Craig Ervine	Top order batter
4	Sikandar Raza (captain)	All rounder
5	Brian Bennett	Middle order batter
6	Wessly Madhevere	All rounder
7	Ryan Burl	All rounder
8	Wellington Masakadza	Spinner
9	Blessing Muzarabani	Pace bowler
10	Newman Nyamhuri	Pace bowler
11	Graeme Cremer	Spinner

Cameron Green remains unavailable for Australia with shoulder soreness, which is why Hazlewood and Stanlake came into the XI ahead of the Zimbabwe vs Australia second ODI in place of Bartlett and Johnson, and that combination looks likely to continue into the third match given how well it worked.

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