170/6 (40.1)
CR : 4.23
166/10 (42.5)
CR : 3.88
Ireland won by 4 wickets š
Player of the Match
Joshua Little
6/36
40.1
4
R Ngarava to M Adair
FOUR! Winning run! Ireland win by 4 wickets with 59 balls to spare to go 1-0 up in the series. Short of a length delivery just outside off. Adair waits for it and uppercuts it towards deep third man region for four runs to seal the game.
IRE won by 4 wickets
7:43 PM IST and 4:12 PM Local Time: Ireland go 1 up in the ODI series with a four from Mark Adair now. A comprehensive win for the visitors.
Zimbabwe were right in the game from ball number one of the innings. Richard Ngarava cleaned up former captain, Andy Balbirnie with a peach of a delivery. The edges were constantly beaten in the first powerplay as Blessing Muzarabani and Ngarava stuck to tight line and length. Consistent efforts in the right areas helped Muzarabani remove Stirling at the brink of the first field restrictions.
Subsequently, Curtis Campher, who came at no.3 countered the Chevrons for quite some time. He whacked three boundaries on one such scenario and Harry Tector assisted him for a good part. After a 52-run third wicket stand, Brandon Mavuta cleaned up Tector in the 20th over. Five overs later, rain showed up and halted play for some time. Although Campher was seen limping off the field, the all-rounder resumed the proceedings for the Irish team. The visitors suffered another blow as the well-set batter departed after scoring his fifty.
The lower order went back in Test mode and took their time to reach the total. Lorcan Tucker played some good shots on either square regions but was chopped on by a hard length delivery from Blessing Muzarabani. With a few edges and some rotation of strike, the Irish community levelled the score. An anticlimatic thing took place when George Dockrell went to finish it off with a big heave but ended up getting dismissed. Eventually, Adair hit the winning runs in the following over to finish the chase.
Earlier, Josh Little broke through the top order of the home side with his ferocious bowling, curtailing them to 19-4 in 6 overs. Fights from Ryan Burl (38), Clive Madande (33) and Wellington Masakadza (40) helped them reach a total of 166 runs in the end. Eventually, Little ended up with a six-for under his name.
Stay tuned for presentation ceremony...
The lower order went back in Test mode and took their time to reach the total. Lorcan Tucker played some good shots on either square regions but was chopped on by a hard length delivery from Blessing Muzarabani. With a few edges and some rotation of strike, the Irish community levelled the score. An anticlimatic thing took place when George Dockrell went to finish it off with a big heave but ended up getting dismissed. Eventually, Adair hit the winning runs in the following over to finish the chase.
Earlier, Josh Little broke through the top order of the home side with his ferocious bowling, curtailing them to 19-4 in 6 overs. Fights from Ryan Burl (38), Clive Madande (33) and Wellington Masakadza (40) helped them reach a total of 166 runs in the end. Eventually, Little ended up with a six-for under his name.
Stay tuned for presentation ceremony...
Time for the post-match presentation.....
Sikandar Raza (Zimbabwe Captain): "Yeah, it didn't listen as much as the batters got out. Nothing to take away from Little. we needed partnerships but when you lose four wickets in the first 10 overs, it's a rescue operation from there on and hopefully, we can start scoring some runs at the start and we can have a good total on the board.
Yes, it's one thing not to have Craig and the quality of Sean. I mean, those two are quality cricketers. But I always say that opportunities come at funny times and if you grab hold of those opportunities, that's how you can have a career out of your cricket.
Yes, it's one thing not to have Craig and the quality of Sean. I mean, those two are quality cricketers. But I always say that opportunities come at funny times and if you grab hold of those opportunities, that's how you can have a career out of your cricket.
And unfortunately, we haven't really been able to do that, especially at the top of the order. Credit to Burl and Madande as well, and to Wellington, the way they rescued the ship and gave us something to bowl to, and credit to all our bowlers. I mean, I couldn't be any more proud.
The amount of play and misses, the amount of inside edges that. Unfortunately, a lot of our inside edges went onto the stumps and not, you know, a lot of these things sometimes go your way, but I always believe the harder you work, the luckier you get. And the smarter you work, the luckier you get.
Burl had a concussion but he battled on and he soldiered on for the country and the team and he got some runs but he's in a pretty, pretty average state at the moment in the changing room and doctors are keeping an eye on him."
Burl had a concussion but he battled on and he soldiered on for the country and the team and he got some runs but he's in a pretty, pretty average state at the moment in the changing room and doctors are keeping an eye on him."
Paul Stirling (Ireland Captain): "I think we got better with each game. It was a similar position here as like the last match. Good to see us come through the situation today. Don't get my wrong, this is one of the best spells I've seen in a while. Josh was outstanding, bowling in partnerships is key and it did work for us.
I think 200 would've been a pretty good score and Josh little's performance with the ball stands aside. We haven't been able to do it for a long time but will look to come back hungry and strike again."
I think 200 would've been a pretty good score and Josh little's performance with the ball stands aside. We haven't been able to do it for a long time but will look to come back hungry and strike again."
Josh Little (Player of the Match): "Yeah, firstly, nice to get for a team win and then nice to have some personal success. And it was a special day for me in my hundredth cap.
It was quite abrasive and stayed a bit low, whereas today, I managed to beat the bat a few times, which obviously keeps the ball nice and new, and luckily swung a few.
Yeah, particularly to right-handers. I think that's (in-swinger)a decent option on these surfaces. Obviously, all tournaments we've seen up and down bounce from all the seamers, so definitely a plan."
It was quite abrasive and stayed a bit low, whereas today, I managed to beat the bat a few times, which obviously keeps the ball nice and new, and luckily swung a few.
Yeah, particularly to right-handers. I think that's (in-swinger)a decent option on these surfaces. Obviously, all tournaments we've seen up and down bounce from all the seamers, so definitely a plan."
A fantastic performance from Josh Little with the ball creates a massive difference in the match's verdict. Ireland emerges victorious and leads the series 1-0 with the decider left. The Chevrons will have to bounce back to avoid a home series thrashing.
For now, this is Arijit Kundu, signing off along with co-commentators, Deepak Prakash and Sidharth Gulati while our scorer, Yogesh Kumar, ended up furious at the defensive batting approach and rushed for a cup of coffee. Adios and stay tuned to the network! š