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Half centuries from captain Craig Ervine and a late salvo from Sikandar Raza helped Zimbabwe to a 38 run victory over Ireland in a ODI Super League match on Wednesday.
Ervine’s 64 was crucial after Zimbabwe lost a wickets regularly early on and helped set up Sikandar Raza for a late charge of 58 at the end, as Zimbabwe posted an above-par 266 for the loss of seven.
Zimbabwe had been asked to bat first and Regis Chakabva was first to go for two to Craig Young.
A 71-run partnership between Ervine and Brendan Taylor followed before the latter fell attempting a slog sweep off the Simi Singh’s first ball. He was on 49.
Sean Williams and Ervine then weathered the spin storm after Dion Myers departed for seven. Their partnership of 49 came off 26.3 overs in which Singh and Andy McBrine were tight on a surface that was slow.
Williams would depart to pace, bowled by Josh Little for 33.
When Ervine fell, it was off a shot that would have upset him, smacking one straight to cover.
By then Raza was taking control of the innings, a combination of finding gaps for singles and the boundary. With Wessly Madhevere (19) and Luke Jongwe (18), he was able to combine for 84 runs in the last 8.4 overs.
Singh was one for 22 and Mcbrine one for 26, both bowling their full quota of overs.
Blessing Muzarabani grabbed four for 29, as Ireland’s response fell apart at the seams after a good start and restart.
William Porterfield and Paul Stirling out together 62 for the first wicket. Wellington Masakadza broke the partnership, trapping Stirling for 32
Porterfield and Harry Tector put on 71 for the third wicket and at that point one may have felt the tourists might miss a trick. Enter Luke Jongwe, who had Porterfield at fine leg by Myers for 75. The youngster let it bobble out of his hand but it landed on his shoulder. His reflexes were enough to collect the catch.
Save for Tector getting to 50, Ireland batters fell regularly and the hosts were bowled out for 228 from 48.4 overs.
Masakadza took two for 40 and Williams two for 41.
The win was vital for Zimbabwe’s World Cup ambitions as they collected their second 10 points of the ODI Super League. That puts them level with the Netherlands who have 20 points as well but have played four less matches.
The next match of the series is on Friday and the third on Monday.
In a pre-match press conference, Ervine acknowledged that his side found it hard to win two matches in a row across any format, and said it was a mental thing they were working on.
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