Sikander Raza's unbeaten 60 steered Zimbabwe to a nervy two-wicket victory over Ireland in the first one-day international of a three-match series in Harare.
Surrey's Gary Wilson (70no) and Sussex's Ed Joyce (53) both hit fifties in an otherwise disappointing effort with the bat by the tourists as they posted 219-8 in their 50 overs.
George Dockrell bowled well, taking 2-29 in his 10 overs, but Craig Ervine (60) and Raza did enough to help Zimbabwe over the line, reaching 222-8 with six balls to spare.
Paul Stirling's dismissal for a run-a-ball 24 was the first wicket to fall after Ireland were put into bat - the visitors stuttering to 54-3 after 17 overs.
Joyce and Wilson rescued things somewhat with an 83-run partnership for the fourth wicket, but when the former fell in the 36th over, Ireland again stumbled, managing only a run-a-ball from the final 15 overs of their innings.
John Mooney (1-15) made an early breakthrough, dismissing Richmond Mutumbami for nine in the fifth over, but Ervine's arrival to the crease saw the hosts troubled little for the rest of their run-chase.
Useful contributions by Chamu Chibhabha (22), Sean Williams (24) and Ervine's knock appeared to be guiding the hosts to a comfortable victory.
But Ervine's dismissal was the first of three for 19 runs as Zimbabwe fell from 152-4 to 171-7 and Ireland looked to be on top.
There was no shifting Raza, however, and Zimbabwe now take a 1-0 lead into Sunday's second one-day international.
No comments:
Post a Comment