148/9 (20.0)
CR : 7.40
147/8 (20.0)
CR : 7.35
Zimbabwe won by 1 wicket 🏆
Player of the Match
Sikandar Raza
3/2865(42)
1:37 AM IST, 10:07 PM Local Time: PHEW! A humdinger of a match here at Harare Sports Club, and the home side win the last ball thriller by a mere one wicket to go 1-0 up in the series. The match swung like a pendulum but eventually rested in the favor of the home side.
Earlier, after being invited to bat first, Ireland got off to a rollicking start as the opening duo of Andrew Balbirnie (32 off 25) and Paul Stirling (14 off 10) scored at a brisk pace from the word go and added 44 runs for the first wicket.
Lorcan Tucker and Harry Tector took their time to settle in the middle but failed to capitalize, departing for 21 and 24 runs, respectively. The wicket of Tucker triggered a massive collapse for the visitors as they started to lose wickets at regular intervals and eventually were reeling at 116/8. However, Gareth Delany played a solid cameo of 26* runs off 11 balls at the cue end of the innings and helped his side post a decent 147/8 in 20 overs.
Sikandar Raza shone with the ball for Zimbabwe, taking three wickets. Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani chipped in with a couple of wickets, while Sean Williams contributed one wicket to Ireland’s downfall.
In pursuit of 147 runs, Zimbabwe got off to a shaky start as they lost Tadiwanashe Marumani and Sean Williams cheaply inside the powerplay. Wessly Madhevere and Sikandar Raza started building the partnership in the middle, but their progress was abruptly halted by George Dockrell, who trapped Madhevere for 25 runs and ceased the 32-run partnership. Ryan Burl failed and the debutant Brian Bennett failed to make an impact with the bat and departed cheaply.
Clive Madande joined skipper Raza in the middle and the duo scored at a brisk pace and ran quickly between the wickets. Raza went on to notch up his 12th T20I half-century and right when it looked like Zimbabwe would easily win this match, Joshua Little ceased Madande's 11-ball 20 runs cameo and injected life in the match. However, Raza reduced the equation to 13 runs in the last 2 overs but who would have thought this game would go down to the wire? Mark Adair extracted the big wicket of Raza(65 off 42) in the penultimate over and forced the game into the last over.
The equation was reduced to 2 runs off the final ball with one wicket remaining for the home side and Muzarabani held his nerve and sealed the deal for Zimbabwe in the last ball.
Ireland bowlers were good in patches and managed to keep themselves till the last ball of the match, but fate had other plans for them. Mark Adair, Joshua Little, Barry McCarthy, and Craig Young shared a couple of wickets each, while George Dockrell contributed one wicket.
Stay tuned for the post-match presentation...
Clive Madande joined skipper Raza in the middle and the duo scored at a brisk pace and ran quickly between the wickets. Raza went on to notch up his 12th T20I half-century and right when it looked like Zimbabwe would easily win this match, Joshua Little ceased Madande's 11-ball 20 runs cameo and injected life in the match. However, Raza reduced the equation to 13 runs in the last 2 overs but who would have thought this game would go down to the wire? Mark Adair extracted the big wicket of Raza(65 off 42) in the penultimate over and forced the game into the last over.
The equation was reduced to 2 runs off the final ball with one wicket remaining for the home side and Muzarabani held his nerve and sealed the deal for Zimbabwe in the last ball.
Ireland bowlers were good in patches and managed to keep themselves till the last ball of the match, but fate had other plans for them. Mark Adair, Joshua Little, Barry McCarthy, and Craig Young shared a couple of wickets each, while George Dockrell contributed one wicket.
Stay tuned for the post-match presentation...
ZIMBABWE WINNING A T20I ON THE LAST BALL WHILE CHASING:
by 5 wickets v Bangladesh, Sylhet 2014
by 5 wickets v Namibia, Windhoek 2023
by 1 wicket v Ireland, Harare TODAY*
by 5 wickets v Bangladesh, Sylhet 2014
by 5 wickets v Namibia, Windhoek 2023
by 1 wicket v Ireland, Harare TODAY*
This is Zimbabwe's only 1-wicket victory in T20 internationals.
MOST 50+ SCORES FOR ZIMBABWE IN T20 INTERNATIONALS:
Sikandar Raza - 12*
Hamilton Masakadza - 11
Sean Williams - 11
Craig Ervine - 8
Wessly Madhevere - 7
Sikandar Raza - 12*
Hamilton Masakadza - 11
Sean Williams - 11
Craig Ervine - 8
Wessly Madhevere - 7
Time for the post-match presentation...
Player of the Match: Sikandar Raza
Paul Stirling (Ireland Captain): "First of all, I think it was a brilliant game. You know, hopefully, we've entertained the spectators that were here. It always seems to be a close match between these two sides and another spectacle at hand. I think we'll sit in the dressing room and have a bit of a chat about where it's gone wrong. I think when you lose by one run or one wicket, you can point in a lot of different directions.
I think, yeah, I think we lost wickets at maybe crucial points. I think we had such a good start that we could have maybe got to 160 quite easily. So it's something, again, it's something we'll talk about. We'll reassess and we'll hopefully come better on saturday and sunday."
I think, yeah, I think we lost wickets at maybe crucial points. I think we had such a good start that we could have maybe got to 160 quite easily. So it's something, again, it's something we'll talk about. We'll reassess and we'll hopefully come better on saturday and sunday."
Sikandar Raza (Player of the Match & Zimbabwe Captain): "Yeah, certainly look. It's nice to be part of the history, but first of all, credit goes to the fans for coming up in numbers as well. And to be part of this history, the first game under lights and to have a cracker of a game is certainly something that the fans were looking forward to. But, yeah, it's nice to get over the line.
Yeah, I thought they got maybe five to eight too many. But credit to Delany, for the way he batted in the last over, I mean, it was a big over as well, but these things happen. The pendulum always swings in different directions. But 148 to chase, I was pretty happy with that total, and credit to the batters as well. I know we make a little bit of mistakes here and there, but the most important thing is that we've got over the line and we give something to everybody to cheer about.
I was gutted and upset that I didn't finish the game. You don't want to leave a pressure moment to the tail-enders, but credit to Gwandu and blessing and that important call by Ngarava as well, that little knockoff, Clive Madande was very important. There were a lot of good things done by the team and I'm pretty happy and proud of my team. Just wanted to tell Madande that if you remain positive, you'll see the ball better. When you give responsibility to these guys they do well. Everything that happens stays on the field."
I was gutted and upset that I didn't finish the game. You don't want to leave a pressure moment to the tail-enders, but credit to Gwandu and blessing and that important call by Ngarava as well, that little knockoff, Clive Madande was very important. There were a lot of good things done by the team and I'm pretty happy and proud of my team. Just wanted to tell Madande that if you remain positive, you'll see the ball better. When you give responsibility to these guys they do well. Everything that happens stays on the field."
Most Player of the Match awards won for Zimbabwe in T20Is:
14* - Sikandar Raza
4 - Hamilton Masakadza
3 - Ryan Burl
3 - Sean Williams
Time to wrap up our coverage of this last-ball thriller. Zimbabwe beat Ireland by a mere one wicket to go 1-0 up in the 3-match T-20I series. Thank you for staying with us throughout the coverage. For now, this is Deepak Prakash taking your leave on behalf of co-commentator Ninaad Dixit and scorer/analyst Raju Khariya. CHEERS!