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This is Soumarya Dutta signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Raghav. See you soon!.
Right so, Zimbabwe have gone 1-0 up in the three match series and we had an absolute thriller of a contest today. With two well balanced teams out there, it promises to be the same for the remainder of the series. Ireland will be looking to bounce back from this defeat and put up a more defiant show with the bat while the Chevrons will be looking to double it up and get the unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. Don't forget to join us for the second T20 international between these two sides from the same venue on Saturday.
Ryan Burl, Player of the Match- Was good to get a chance to bowl my full quota of four overs. Got a good amount of assistance from the pitch. We would have liked to loose less wickets during the chase but that's how things were . We will take a lot of heart from this win going forward in the series.
Craig Ervine, Player of the Match- Our bowling effort was really good and we managed to take wickets at regular intervals. We were happy to chase 114 but could have batted well. Boundary hitting was difficult and we faced a bit too many dot balls in those middle overs. Will be looking to build up on this start going ahead in the series.
Andy Balbirnie: A score like this (114) was always going to be tricky. We created enough chances but they took the game away from us. Yeah, we would have bowled first as well, a score of 130-140 could've been good. We couldn't read the surface initially and we hope to be better prepared for Saturday. We need to do better quickly with the bat and that wasn't the case today, we will have to look back at the footage from today and learn from the mistakes heading into the next game.
Zimbabwe 118/5 in 18 overs Sean Williams 34(30) | Mark Adair 2/12 Gary Ballance 30(29) | HarryTector 2/17
Zimbabwe have thumped Ireland by 5 wickets here and this has been a comprehensive performance from them! 115 was never going to be enough for Ireland and in the end Zimbabwe got home with two overs to spare although Ireland made them sweat for those runs. It was a Sean Williams show today at the Harare Sports Club as the veteran left hander looked at his imperious best. Gary Ballance who was making his debut in Zimbabwe colors gave him good support too. He set the foundation for the chase early on with a good 30 off 29 balls. Youngster Clive Madande joined Williams late and finished things off with a flurry of boundaries.
Ireland fought hard with the ball and they did have their moments in the field. They started off really well as Harry Tector, bowling for the first time in his career, knocked off the opening batters. The Irishmen managed to keep the pressure till the 15th over post which Williams launched an onslaught to which they had no answers. Mark Adair was the pick of the bowlers for them as he got the ball to swing and troubled the batters.
Overall, this has been a fantastic start to the series and Zimbabwe will be really happy with the result. Ireland can take heart from the way they've fought with this low score but their batters really led them down and they will be looking to improve on that. Zimbabwe on the other hand will be looking carry forward the momentum as they go ahead in the series and build on this 1-0 lead.
Zimbabwe win by 5 wickets and 12 balls remaining!
18
overs
118/5score
1
4
1
4
0
4
runs
Sean Williams
34(30)
Clive Madande*
18(10)
Gareth Delany
0/34
17.6 Gareth Delany to Clive Madande, FOUR! Zimbabwe win by 4 wickets! Fraction short on middle-leg, Madande gives himself some room to pull this over midwicket to finish it off in style with a boundary!
17.5 Gareth Delany to Clive Madande, length delivery on the fourth stump line, fenced to covers
17.4 Gareth Delany to Clive Madande, FOUR! Scores are level now! A full toss outside off with enough room on offer, Delany was asking for trouble here. Madande reaches out and hammers it through the covers for a boundary!
17.3 Gareth Delany to Sean Williams, dropped short and wide of off, Williams gets behind the line and slaps it to mid off for a single
17.2 Gareth Delany to Sean Williams, FOUR! Tossed up on off, Williams takes one step forward and chips it over mid off for a boundary! Zimbabwe are just one hit away now!
17.1 Gareth Delany to Clive Madande, tossed up on fourth stump, Madande tries to dig it out and gets an inside edge to short fine, single taken
Gareth Delany [3.0-0-20-0] back into the attack.
The gamble didn't pay off for Balbirnie there as Dockrell turned out to be really expensive. Zimbabwe are in striking distance of a victory now.
17
overs
104/5score
1
1
3
4
0
1
runs
Sean Williams
29(28)
Clive Madande*
9(6)
George Dockrell
0/17
16.6 George Dockrell to Clive Madande, on length and down the leg side, swept to short fine for a single
16.5 George Dockrell to Clive Madande, tossed up on off, pushed back to the bowler
Clive Madande has brought up Zimbabwe's 100 in some style with a four here and it has got the Castle Corner up on their feet!
16.4 George Dockrell to Clive Madande, FOUR! Dropped short and on middle-leg, Madande whacks it through the square leg region for a boundary!
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Sean Williams
Gareth Delany
Video
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