Zimbabwe vs Ireland Third ODI, Review: Zimbabwe clinch series with commanding performance

Zimbabwe clashed with Ireland in the third ODI at the Harare Sports Club in Harare on February 18. Zimbabwe won the toss and opted to bowl first. Andrew Balbirnie provided a good start for the Irish but he lost partners at regular intervals. Paul Stirling and Curtis Campher departed scoring nine and 11 runs respectively leaving the team at 42/2.

Balbirnie found a good batting partner in the form of Harry Tector and stitched a 86-run stand for the third wicket, before Balbirnie was removed by Wellington Masakadza on 64 runs. Lorcan Tucker joined Tector and added 31 runs for the fourth wicket as Tector walked back scoring 51 runs. The only other notable contribution came at the end of Mark Adair’s 26* run knock. Tucker scored 61 runs and Ireland ended their innings on 240/6. 

Zimbabwe came all guns blazing during the chase as Brian Bennett and Ben Curran added a spectacular 124 runs for the first wicket in just 19.4 overs. As Bennett walked back scoring 48 runs, Craig Ervine made the Ireland bowlers toil hard as they failed to pick any wickets further. Curran remained unbeaten on 118 and Ervine remained unbeaten on 69 runs as Zimbabwe chased the target scoring 246 runs in just 39.3 overs. 

Also Read - Stats: Zimbabwe batter Brian Bennett becomes fourth youngest to score 150+ runs in an ODI innings

“Everybody is ecstatic. Lot of hardwork has been put in the last few months. Winning the toss was key. You still had to bowl. Richard was superb. Trevor was superb as first change. When you do get the initial platform, it gives the guys coming like me and Raza to play freely. Ben and Brian have done well to follow their processes. We have spoken at length when you get in, make it count. Ben got in and carried on for a match winning score,” said Zimbabwe captain, Craig Ervine after the match.