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ZIM won by 31 runs

5:52 PM IST: The batting lineup got off to a rocky start as both the Zimbabwean openers went back to the dugout with single digits. Coming in at number 3, Wesley Madhevere played the foundational innings while scoring 22(19). Sean Williams 12(11), tried to support him from the other end. 

The most talked about batting performance of the match was Sikandar Raza as the star batter played the saviour. Raza scored a brilliant 82 off 48 balls at a blistering strike rate 170.83. Thanks to Raza and a late feature from Luke Jongwe (20*), Zimbabwe managed to put up a total of 174 in 20 overs at the loss of 7 wickets. 

For Ireland, Joshua Little and Mark Adair made their mark with the ball as they scalped 3 and 2 wickets, respectively. 

Ireland had a similar start on the crease as the openers crumbled within single digits. Curtis Campher scored a well-needed 27 (22) as he came in at number 5. Succeeding him, George Dockrell and Gareth Delany both scored 24 off of 20 balls. 

After Delany's departure from the crease, the Irish batters failed to score any worthwhile runs as the lineup kept crumbling. Richard Ngarava, Tendai Chatara and Blessing Muzarabani all played a strong hand at Ireland's short lived stint at the crease. They scalped 2, 2 and 3 wickets, respectively. Barry McCarthy tried to revive the chase as he scored 22 off 16 balls, but all his efforts went in vain as Zimbabwe drove the match to victory.

Sikandar Raza | Player of the Match: "I only said to Sean,  Let's try to take the team as far as we both can. I simply wanted to bat. I didn't want my emotions to get the better of me. The best way to get out of that situation was to not let my emotions take over. I just wanted to time the ball correctly and go from there. I thought the wicket became harder, or I became tired because the second phase of which my innings was poor. It was difficult to get going when they were bowling length. I was simply attempting to position myself to pull, cut, and hook. I was only thinking that if they didn't miss their target, I had to do something. To be honest, there is no secret. The only secret I can give you is to try to channel all of your emotions of success and failure in the right direction and compete with the best in the world so that we can represent Zimbabweans and raise our flag among the best in the world. The discomfort is there, and I believe the body is disintegrating. Hopefully, I will do everything correctly. I used to think I was a slacker when it came to hydration. The weather was cold, and that was where I fell short. It was a good wake-up call for me to try to stay fit. We didn't just come because we wanted to represent Zimbabwe. The goal was to make it to the Super 12s. This victory is certainly humbling, exciting, and joyful. I wouldn't be celebrating this victory after the team chat is over. We have a tough game against the Caribbean boys coming up, and I am looking forward to it."

Andrew Balbirnie | Ireland Captain: "I don't believe I can look back and be sorry. At the halfway point, we were quite pleased. It was a good wicket, and we expected it to be so all day. You're always up against it when you're blown away. We were bitterly disappointed with how we started the competition, but it's now a fairly straightforward shoot-out for us. Little is our best bowler right now, our strike bowler, and he's played franchise cricket. He brilliantly leads the attack. Hopefully, he can keep improving. Zimbabwe bowled extremely well up top, learning from the first innings about what needed to be done. There will be some takeaways. It's a quick turnaround; I need to get out there and fight. It was difficult, but we had to counter that as batters, which we didn't do tonight."

Craig Ervine | Zimbabwe Captain: "We are overjoyed. To put up a performance like that in the first game proves that we belong here. It's a shame we haven't played in a World Cup in a long time. Raza has been a consistent performer for us in recent months. He was overjoyed that he could bring that form back here. Different circumstances, but his form remained unchanged. He performed admirably today. We needed to get a little fuller because we thought the Irish bowled a little short. Richie and Bless deserve credit for hitting the straps. Hitting through the covers was difficult. In such a competition, run rate could be a factor in the end. It was a little disappointing not to be able to finish it. All of the guys deserve credit for a fantastic performance."

That is it from us today. We are signing off as AkshyaKrishna Polya, Gargi Raut, and Probuddha Bhattacharjee alongside our scorer/analyst Paras Yadav. We will meet again tomorrow with another World Cup game. Until then. It is goodbye!