08/09Result
1st ODI, Zimbabwe tour of Ireland and Scotland at Belfast, Sep 8 2021
Zimbabwe won by 38 runs
Player of the Match
Sikandar Raza
Sikandar RazaZimbabwe
08/09Result
1st ODI, Zimbabwe tour of Ireland and Scotland at Belfast, Sep 8 2021
Zimbabwe won by 38 runs
Player of the Match
Sikandar Raza
Sikandar RazaZimbabwe

Sikandar Raza is the Player of the Match: I thought the goundation was set by Craig, Sean and Brendan. Brendan batted with some grit, and later it was my turn to get some runs. It was better to bat then but certainly hard at the top. I wanted to run hard between the wicket and find the boundary here and there.

Craig Ervine: The first 10-15 overs were difficult to get through for batters. Brendan did the hard work and fell but the foundation was set pretty well. At the beginning we thought 250 would be a really good score, the wicket did get slightly better in the afternoon. The bowlers stuck to their plans really well. The spinners were creating a lot of dots when I batted (so we used spinners too).

That's all we have from today, do tune in again on Friday for the second ODI, when we will also have England vs India, Bangladesh vs New Zealand and Sri Lanka vs South Africa. The schedule is right here. Until then, it's goodbye and good luck from me, Vishal Dikshit, and Himanshu Agrawal.

6.23pm Handshakes all around and smiles all over the Zimbabwe players' faces as they take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. It's a convincing performance from them, fighting back after the loss in the T20Is, and they put up a good show in all four departments. That's what Ireland will be disappointed about: they bowled well in phases, especially the spinners, but leaked too much in the end, put down too many catches, they were sloppy in the field, they didn't get the run rate going in the chase despite having wickets in hand early on, and Zimbabwe even used the reviews better. We'll take you to the presentation soon...

48.4
W
Muzarabani to Little, OUT, he goes for the big shot, gets a leading edge and it's taken comfortably by Ervine in the third man region. That seals Zimbabwe's 38-run victory for a 1-0 lead

JB Little c Ervine b Muzarabani 4 (3m 4b 1x4 0x6) SR: 100.00

A boundary after more than 10 overs

48.3
4
Muzarabani to Little, FOUR, targets the stumps, and Little smashes it down the ground right off the middle to beat long-on

Bimal: "Happy for Zimbabwe. They are much stronger side with Raza, Williams and Taylor. They deserve a spot in WC 2023!"

48.2
0
Muzarabani to Little, no run, rising ball again outside off, this time he pokes and nearly edges it
48.1
0
Muzarabani to Little, no run, Little shoulders arms to this back of length ball outside off

12 balls to go. Will Ireland survive them?

END OF OVER:
48 | 5 Runs 1 Wkt | IRE: 224/9 (43 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 4.66, RRR: 21.50)

  • Craig Young2 (2b)
  • Wellington Masakadza9-0-40-2
  • Blessing Muzarabani9-2-25-3
47.6
W
Masakadza to Tucker, OUT, another big shot attempted, another catch taken, and it's a second wicket for Masakadza. Tucker made room and drove on the up, in the air, and in the deep, for a comfortable catch at deep cover

LJ Tucker c Williams b Masakadza 14 (28m 19b 0x4 0x6) SR: 73.68

47.5
1
Masakadza to Young, 1 run, on length on middle, backs away to punch it to deep cover
47.4
1
Masakadza to Tucker, 1 run, swings again on the leg side, and he gets one to deep midwicket through the aerial route
47.4
1w
Masakadza to Tucker, 1 wide, plants his front foot in front of off and goes for a slow sweep but it goes past him down leg
47.3
1
Masakadza to Young, 1 run, Young goes back and turns the ball to leg against the turn for one more
47.2
1
Masakadza to Tucker, 1 run, backs away a bit before driving to cover for one
47.1
0
Masakadza to Tucker, no run, pretty straight, and he makes room before driving it back. The bowler dives to his right to stop it with one hand

Young and Tucker have a chat before parting ways

END OF OVER:
47 | 5 Runs 1 Wkt | IRE: 219/8 (48 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 4.65, RRR: 16.00)

  • Lorcan Tucker12 (15b)
  • Craig Young0 (0b)
  • Blessing Muzarabani9-2-25-3
  • Wellington Masakadza8-0-35-1
46.6
1
Muzarabani to Tucker, 1 run, angling in and Young gets off the mark with a single to deep midwicket

One ball to go, Zimbabwe inching closer to 1-0 lead in the three-match series

46.5
W
Muzarabani to Adair, OUT, that's gone high off a slow offcutter, really high behind square, and Ngarava gets under it just in time to grab it with both hands. Adair swung big against the cutter and all he managed was a leading edge on the leg side. Just a bit of Muzarabani's heel behind crease makes it a legal delivery

MR Adair c Ngarava b Muzarabani 6 (9m 9b 0x4 0x6) SR: 66.66

46.4
1
Muzarabani to Tucker, 1 run, short ball at 130.5kmh, he middles the pull but finds deep midwicket. Just one more
46.3
1
Muzarabani to Adair, 1 run, slow offcutter at 104.9kmh, it's short again, and Adair pulls it deep midwicket
46.2
1
Muzarabani to Tucker, 1 run, swings into the leg side but finds deep square leg and they've to settle for one
46.1
1
Muzarabani to Adair, 1 run, starts with a bouncer which Adair swats down towards mid-on for one

Muzarabani returns now, two to go for him

END OF OVER:
46 | 4 Runs | IRE: 214/7 (53 runs required from 24 balls, RR: 4.65, RRR: 13.25)

  • Lorcan Tucker9 (12b)
  • Mark Adair4 (6b)
  • Wellington Masakadza8-0-35-1
  • Sean Williams8-0-42-2
45.6
0
Masakadza to Tucker, no run, big swing to end the over out of desperation, and he misses it completely as the ball turns away from length around off
45.5
1
Masakadza to Adair, 1 run, outside off again, and another cut, this time to deep point
45.4
1
Masakadza to Tucker, 1 run, Tucker cuts as well, takes a more comfortable single towards point
45.3
1
Masakadza to Adair, 1 run, backs away and cuts to point for a risky single but makes it at the non-striker's end
45.2
0
Masakadza to Adair, no run, slower through the air with turn, beats the outside edge just outside off
45.1
1
Masakadza to Tucker, 1 run, reverse sweeps the flattish delivery to short third man

57 off five, and only three wickets in hand. Will Muzarabani come back? Not yet

END OF OVER:
45 | 4 Runs 1 Wkt | IRE: 210/7 (57 runs required from 30 balls, RR: 4.66, RRR: 11.40)

  • Mark Adair2 (3b)
  • Lorcan Tucker7 (9b)
  • Sean Williams8-0-42-2
  • Wellington Masakadza7-0-31-1
44.6
0
Williams to Adair, no run, beats him on the last ball as Adair goes back to nudge it to leg but can't connect and is struck on the pads, but not in line
44.5
1
Williams to Tucker, 1 run, nice and slow towards off stump, Tucker goes back and cuts to deep point

Ireland 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st64WTS PorterfieldPR Stirling
2nd28WTS PorterfieldA Balbirnie
3rd71WTS PorterfieldHT Tector
4th24GH DockrellHT Tector
5th8HT TectorSimi Singh
6th7LJ TuckerHT Tector
7th4AR McBrineLJ Tucker
8th12MR AdairLJ Tucker
9th6CA YoungLJ Tucker
10th4CA YoungJB Little