24 January 2004	Saturday	01 Zilhaj 1424

ADELAIDE, Jan 23: Openers Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag were once again expected to be rested from the starting line-up of an in-form India as it takes on struggling Zimbabwe in the tri-nation series one-day cricket match in Adelaide on Saturday.

The injured pair were not expected to make a comeback in a match that will have no bearing on India's secure position for the finals series against world champions Australia.

Struggling Zimbabwe has yet to win a match after four losses so far in the series but showed it could be competitive in its last outing against India. The Zimbabwe team will be without opening batsman Mark Vermeulen for the remainder of the series after he suffered a fractured skull in the match against India in Brisbane last Tuesday.

Vermeulen, who has been struggling for form in the series, was hit by a bouncer from Irfan Pathan that went through the visor of his helmet. He is likely to be out for three months.

His loss is a bitter blow for a Zimbabwe batting line-up already missing veteran Craig Wishart, who was sent home earlier this month after injuring his knee.

"It's very hard for a side like Zimbabwe to cope with losing two experienced batsmen," Zimbabwe media manager Mark Harrison said Friday. Zimbabwe's batsmen already appeared out of their depth in the three-way competition, with 231 against India in Brisbane their highest score so far.

The Africans delayed naming their full side until Saturday, but inexperienced batsman Vusi Sibanda, 12th man in Brisbane, was likely to replace Vermeulen.

For India, the brilliant Tendulkar, who injured his right ankle batting against Australia in Brisbane last Sunday and his fellow opener Virender Sehwag, who has a shoulder injury, are likely to be rested.

Both were declared fit enough to play by captain Sourav Ganguly earlier in the week, even though they were both left out of the Indian side that narrowly lost to Australia at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Thursday night.

Teams:

Zimbabwe (from): Heath Streak (captain), Grant Flower, Travis Friend, Stuart Carlisle, Dion Ebrahim, Tatenda Taibu, Sean Ervine, Andy Blignaut, Ray Price, Douglas Hondo, Visu Sibanda, Stewart Matsikenyeri.

India (from): Sourav Ganguly (captain), Parthiv Patel, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Rohan Gavaskar, Hemang Badani, Ajit Agarkar, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Sanjay Bangar.-AFP