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It's nice to find that for once the various match bulletins scattered around the web for yesterday's match are lacking in the heavy criticism of Zimbabwe that's been common of late. Yesterday's 27-run loss (the closest game of the tri-series so far) held a lot of good for the home side - although opinion is pretty much unanimous that they could still have done better.

We'll start off with CricMania, and the first of many references to the slow beginning Zimbabwe made in their innings, while also giving credit to the bowling performances of Ewing and Blignaut in giving Zimbabwe half a shout at victory:

Ewing and Blignaut upend New Zealand

Off-spinner Gavin Ewing delivered the best performance of his short career to earn Zimbabwe a chance of winning the fourth triangular series match against New Zealand in Harare on Wednesday. It was the best bowling performance of the season so far by the struggling Zimbabweans, who lost both tests to New Zealand by an innings and were thrashed by 192 runs by the Kiwis and by 161 runs by India in their first two triangular series matches.

Zimbabwe save some face in loss to New Zealand

New Zealand have beaten Zimbabwe in a one-day international triangular tournament match at Harare Sports Club here, but the home side at least saved some face in losing by only 27 runs. Zimbabwe did well to keep the Kiwis to 238 all out - the first time all their batsmen were dismised on the tour. The home side replied with 211, an innings ponderously built but sprinkled with sixes as confidence grew in the later stages of the game.

Cricket365 takes a more down-to-earth approach, pointing out the New Zealand bowler Shane Bond is in the form of his life at the moment, but that the Black Cap batsmen weren't all quite there:

Yet another loss for Zimbabwe

As has been the trend in international cricket of late, the tail wagged profusely. Blignaut (50), Gavin Ewing (12), and Blessing Mahwire (8) pulled out all the stops to take their side to as close to a victory as they've been in a long time. Close but no cigar, as speedster Shane Bond - in the form of his life - had Mahwire caught at long-on leaving Tatenda Taibu's men the 27 short.

Styris and Vettori salvage New Zealand pride

Winning the toss and electing to bat first on the flat Harare track, Stephen Fleming's men - except Nathan Astle (61), Scott Styris (63), and Daniel Vettori (47) - were never on top of their game. Lou Vincent, who scored an enormous 172 in their first game against Zim, fell to Heath Streak in the first over. Edging the ball to wicket-keeper Tatenda Taibu, Vincent was out for a duck.

Cricketworld again focusses on the impressive batting display put on by Blignaut and Coventry:

Zimbabwe Beaten Despite Improved Display

Zimbabwe looked to be heading for defeat at 93 for six in the 35th over. But Blignaut (50 off 47 balls) and Charles Coventry (35 off 21 balls) put their foot on the accelerator to put on 63 for the seventh wicket. When Coventry was caught behind off the bowling of Kyle Mills with the score on 156, man-of-the-match Blignaut struggled to maintain the momentum, and the pace of Shane Bond proved too much for the Zimbabwe tail.

CricInfo refuses to see the silver lining in the cloud of another defeat, instead blaming the close-ish result more on a poor performance by New Zealand than a good one from Zim:

New Zealand ease into final

As far as the result goes, a defeat by 27 runs, Zimbabwe lost their second clash of the Videocon Cup against New Zealand with honour, after two previous and humiliating defeats. It was not quite as impressive as it looked, though: it was clear from early in the Zimbabwe innings that they had little chance of victory, but a courageous flurry from the lower middle-order ensured that the margin of defeat was small.

'We never got out of second gear'

Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, admitted that his team put in a below-par performance against Zimbabwe on Wednesday, but said that the display would help the players focus better for the rest of the Videocon Cup tournament. New Zealand were patchy with both bat and ball, scoring only 238 - a big come-down from the 397 they amassed against Zimbabwe in their earlier game - and then allowed their opponents to get to within 27 runs of victory.

Zimbabwe's Herald naturally takes the positive approach:

Zimbabwe go down fighting

It was the first time this season that Zimbabwe offered entertainment to the crowd and it was also the closest match of the tournament so far after the previous three matches had the winning teams doing so by between 51 and 192 runs. To cap a commendable afternoon for Zimbabwe, all-rounder Andy Blignaut was crowned man-of-the-match for his heroics with both bat and ball.

The Zimbabwe Independent, meanwhile, wonders if some therapy is required:

Top order fails Zim, but not alone

An interesting observation by many people we spoke to was that the Zimbabwe players lack mental strength such that when they have a realistic chance of winning, like they had on both days this week; they get overwhelmed by the responsibility and get extremely nervous about holding the destiny of victory in their hands. So what do you do? Hire a psychologist? Maybe. Well, the last time authorities resorted to such a move was three years ago, but little is known about his day-by-day role in the team and whether he made any difference to the players' approach and performance. While, generally, the team's overall performance against New Zealand offered some hope, it is the gelling that new coach Kevin Curran must work on.

Last up, BBC Sport follows the trend of pointing out Zimbabwe's problems in chasing a reasonable target:

Kiwis power to third series win

Andy Blignaut gave a fine performance for the hosts in Harare on Wednesday with 4-46 and a dashing 50 in 47 balls. But after allowing New Zealand to score 238, Zimbabwe were always struggling to chase down the target and Shane Bond (4-17) produced a fine display.

Most sources are working on the assumption of a New Zealand -vs- India final - I believe that it's still mathematically possible for Zimbabwe to qualify (if New Zealand win with a bonus point against India tomorrow, and Zimbabwe win with a bonus point on Sunday), but in all honesty it is unlikely. Zim will be looking at the way they've improved through this series, though, and hopefully will be confident enough to go for the win against India.