Ireland’s 147 for 8 (Balbirnie 32, Delany 26*, Raza 3-28, Ngarava 2-23) was defeated by Zimbabwe 148 for 9 (Raza 65, Madhevere 25, Little 2-17, Young 2-20) by 1 wicket.
In a game that kept you on the edge of your seat for the final few overs, Zimbabwe’s last-ball victory over Ireland included spectacular catches, dramatic shifts in momentum, and a fortunate inside edge.
In the first-ever international game played under lights at the Harare Sports Club, Sikandar Raza performed a masterful job with the bat and the ball to lead Zimbabwe to victory and a 1-0 series lead over Ireland.
In their locker room, however, the pace trio of Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, and rookie Trevor Gwandu would be praised as equally important heroes—but not for what they accomplished with the ball.
After taking three wickets to limit Ireland to 147, Raza calmly guided the chase with a 42-ball 65, despite some heated exchanges with Ireland fielders and wickets tumbling at the other end. Even with Paul Stirling’s spectacular grab at cover to bring Raza down, Zimbabwe’s task was far from finished as the hosts needed 11 off of nine with all of the starting hitters back in the dugout.
When Ngarava and Gwandu could only muster three runs off the opening three balls, Ireland appeared to have taken the lead. The equation came down to nine off the final over. However, Ngarava used a leg-side swipe to get a boundary, making it two required off two.
Sounds easy enough? Not quite that easy, though.
When Mark Adair sprinted back from short third to hold on to a blinder, falling on his neck after a full backflip, the momentum switched once more and he walked off. Muzarabani was now in striking position and needed two runs off the final ball. However, Muzarabani obtained an inside edge that defeated Lorcan Tucker, much to Ireland’s dismay, giving Zimbabwe the two runs required to complete a thrilling victory.
Raza leads the way in the pursuit.
Raza was instrumental in dragging Zimbabwe back into the game in both innings, despite Ireland dominating the powerplay with the bat and the ball. Ireland, defending 147, got off to a solid start with the ball, as Tadiwanashe Marumani removed Barry McCarthy early by chipping him to mid-on. In the next over, Josh Little got Sean Williams to chop on, further undermining Zimbabwe.
After Zimbabwe’s powerplay ended, Raza hit back-to-back boundaries to give the innings some pace. Upon the arrival of spin, Wessly Madhevere reverse-swept George Dockrell for four balls, but was removed after just one ball due to his exposed stumps and poor scoop.
Zimbabwe was kept going by Ryan Burl and Raza, but in the twelfth over, Burl struck a drive past long-on, and in the thirteenth over, Bura dumped Gareth Delany over midwicket, seemingly changing the tide.
But with two wickets in two overs, Craig Young threw a wrench in the works. With the batter top-edging the draw behind for Tucker to grab, he bounced Burl out. Young scored once again after Harry Tector executed a brilliant take, sprinting to his left and leaping to retrieve the ball with one hand, and rookie Bennett ended up hitting aerially to mid-off’s left.
Raza did, however, quickly reach his twelfth T20I fifty before picking up the pace. He began a productive over by hitting a six over fine leg off McCarthy after top-edging Adair for four. In order to reduce the asking rate to run-a-ball, Madande removed McCarthy after he hit a six and four.
At that moment, it appeared as though Zimbabwe would easily win, but Little castled Madande, and in a superb penultimate over, Adair dismissed Luke Jongwe and Raza.
But despite the drama in the last over, Zimbabwe managed to win with to Ngarava, Gwandu, and Muzarabani.
Balbirnie starts Ireland’s campaign strongly.
Ireland had a riotous start when Andy Balbirnie struck Ngarava for three fours in the opening over, including two exquisite cover drives. He then gave Muzarabani a hard time, smacking him for a four and a six. Then, as Ireland sprinted to 38 for no loss in three overs, Paul Stirling greeted Gwandu to international cricket by hitting him for three consecutive fours.
Then, Muzarabani used some slow deliveries to slow down Ireland’s innings. Ngarava reappeared to trap Stirling in front with a low full toss, riding the pressure created by the calm over.
Take a spin from Raza and friends.
After the powerplay, Raza entered the game and had an immediate impact, bringing down Balbirnie with a ball that spun in to take his leg stump and beat the veteran batter’s attempted sweep.
As Williams entered the game, Ireland found it difficult to maintain the pace against spin. In his tenth over of the innings, he stunned the batsmen with two exquisite balls, and in his next over, he added a wicket when he had Lorcan Tucker caught at backward point. Raza then bowled Curtis Campher to claim his second wicket of the evening.
After the powerplay, just 53 runs were made off the next eight overs of spin, and with five overs remaining, Muzarabani cleverly off-spun Dockrell to leave Ireland on 108 for 5.
Raza’s third came when he straightened to pin Tector on the front pad after pitching a sidearm delivery that appeared to be sliding down and trapped him in front. The next to go was Adair, who picked up long-on while attempting to go for a massive shot downtown off Ngarava.
In the subsequent over, Muzarabani claimed another wicket thanks to his slower variations, with McCarthy providing a straightforward catch to point. With a 20-run last over that featured two sixes down the ground, including one that struck the ceiling, Delany helped Ireland surpass 140.
