Zimbabwe 165 for 5 (Madande 44*, Kamunhukamwe 39, Burl 38*, Adair 2-28) lost against Ireland 166 for 6 (Tector 48, Campher 37, Ngarava 2-33) by four wickets.
With one match remaining, Ireland emerged victorious in a closely contested match against Zimbabwe, leveling the T20I series at 1-1. Ireland’s fortunes were reversed by a 66-run partnership of 43 balls between Harry Tector and Curtis Campher, who later shared the triumph with George Dockrell and Mark Adair.
Earlier, Zimbabwe was struggling at 78 for 5, but an unbroken partnership of 87 for the sixth wicket between Ryan Burl and Clive Madande helped them reach 165 for 5.
Subsequently, Ireland was reduced to 20 for 2 in the chase within four overs, unable to get the ball away on a sluggish surface, as Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani prevented Andy Balbirnie and Paul Stirling from getting off to a fast start like they had in the opening match.
To make it difficult to obtain boundaries, Zimbabwe’s bowlers kept it tight and made good use of slower deliveries. To put a positive spin on the powerplay and give Ireland some momentum, Tector and Lorcan Tucker took Trevor Gwandu for eighteen runs. In his subsequent over, Gwandu responded, with Tucker providing a straightforward catch to short fine.
At that point, Tector and Campher started working on the repairs. The two of them used the field placements and ground measurements to their advantage, making sure that runs continued to come even though Zimbabwe was giving them nothing in return.
They consistently located the gaps, and they continued to hit it to the far midwicket boundary for twos even when they were not scoring boundaries.
Zimbabwe’s overstretching in the bowling department aided Ireland. They were already lacking their strongest spin danger with Sikandar Raza sidelined for two games following his demerit point accumulation for a confrontation with Josh Little and Campher in the opening game. And Zimbabwe’s acting captain, Sean Williams, who could have plagued the two right-hand batsmen on a slow track, was limited to bowling only one over before a side ailment almost kept him out of the match.
Wessly Madhevere and Brian Bennett were Zimbabwe’s only remaining options, and it was Bennett who got them back into the match when he removed Campher’s wicket after the all-round player holed out at long-on.
After Ngarava knocked Tector out in the first over, Zimbabwe started bowling at two new hitters.
However, in the last over, Adair and Dockrell maintained their poise and brought Ireland to within seven runs of victory. In the stand, Adair was the more aggressive player. He first sent Ngarava hurtling down the ground for a four, then he lofted Muzarabani over long-on for an incredible six.
However, there was some late drama just like in the previous game when Adair was out on the first ball in the final over.
After one ball, Dockrell was dropped by Tadiwanashe Marumani as he was sprinting in from deep cover. Nevertheless, Dockrell finished the game with a boundary after slicing Luke Jongwe over short third.
Adair had pinned Marumani in front for a first-ball duck, and Ireland had made a good start after winning the toss. After that, Adair forced Madhevere to leave, and Tinashe Kamunhukamwe and Williams started working to give Zimbabwe the momentum again.
In the fifth over, the two hit Craig Young hard, hammering him for 22 runs, abruptly turning Zimbabwe into a powerplay.
Playing in Raza’s place, Kamunhukamwe got off to a poor start but eventually hit two sixes off Young. Williams was also a runner-up when he was taken out by the short-ball trick. George Delany, a legspinner, quickly trapped Kamunhukamwe, and then Young got Bennett caught with another short ball.
Zimbabwe might have had a worse total, but Delany managed to knock Burl out on 16.
Burl and Madande were able to work on repairs thanks to Kamunhukamwe and Williams’ counterattack in the middle, before accelerating at the end.
Burl top-scored for Zimbabwe with an unbeaten 44, while Madande, who made a useful cameo in the opening Twenty20 International, hammered three sixes in his 33-ball 38*.
