Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine gave the landlocked country a great start. Blessing Muzarabani dismantled the Irish middle order to earn Zimbabwe some bragging rights heading into the 2nd ODI.
Veteran batsman Brendan Taylor (49 off 45) and captain Craig Ervine (64 off 96) laid a solid foundation for Zimbabwe after losing an early wicket.
While all the Irish bowlers contributed by picking up one wicket each, Simi Singh (1 for 22) and Andy McBrine (1 for 26) have to be credited for being extremely economical.
Sikandar Raza’s explosive knock of 59 runs (5 fours and 2 sixes) came at the perfect time for his team. He was well supported by Sean Williams and the lower middle order to cross the 250-run mark.
Ireland veteran William Porterfield top-scored with a fine 75 run knock. On a day when experienced batsmen were coming to the fore, 21-year-old Harry Tector scored a half-century.
Before Porterfield’s dismissal, Ireland was still in the contest, but Blessing Muzarabani caused havoc in the Irish dressing room after that. The pacer took a couple of wickets in quick succession. The ball was now in Zimbabwe’s court. Muzarabani ended the match with great figures (4 for 29), with his fourth wicket being the last one to fall.
Wellington Masakadza picked up a couple of wickets, including the all-important one of Porterfield, which broke the 37-year-old’s stand with Harry Tector. Zimbabwe won the game by 38 runs and, as a result, took a 1-0 lead in the 3-match ODI series.
They’ll now be keen on avenging their 3-2 loss in the recently concluded T20I series against Ireland.
Brief Scores
Zimbabwe: 266/7 in 50 overs (Ervine 64, Raza 59*; Singh 1/22, Dockrell 1/23) defeated
Ireland: 228/10 in 48.4 overs (Porterfield 75, Tector 50; Muzarabani 4/29, Masakadza 2/40)
Man of the Match
Zimbabwe vs IrelandSikandar Raza
