A century by Andrew Balbirnie, wickets and runs to Mark Adair and a fifth successive ODI half-century from Paul Stirling helped Ireland to defeat Zimbabwe today at Bready Cricket Club.
Early morning showers meant a delayed start to play in Tyrone but, after William Porterfield won the toss and sent Zimbabwe in on a green-tinged pitch, Ireland's bowlers looked to put the African side on the back foot from the beginning of the series.
Adair removed opener Tinashe Kamunhukamwe’s middle stump with his first ball. Shortly after he removed Zimbabwe skipper Hamilton Masakadza for 15, leaving the visitors at 20-2 in the sixth over.
Craig Ervine, the 33-year year old left-hander then looked to take control – dispatching balls to all corners of the ground without looking to take many risks. He built stabilising partnerships with Brendan Taylor (12) and Sean Williams (28), before broadening his shoulders and powering through to his third ODI century for Zimbabwe.
As good as Ervine’s innings was, when he eventually departed for 105 from 117 balls, the visiting side were on a precarious 210-7 in the 45th over.
Step up Ryan Burl – the 25-year old middle-order batter with an ODI average of just 14.00 decided to finish with a powerful flourish. His first 10 runs came off 24 balls, but with the loss of Ervine he proceeded to smash four sixes and three fours, ending on 49* off 42 balls – scoring 39 runs off his last 18 balls.
Zimbabwe’s final total of 254-9 looked highly competitive, and would require some dedicated batting by the home side to overhaul.
For Ireland, Adair finished with his first four-wicket haul in ODIs (4-73) – having suffered the brunt of Burl’s late hitting – and fellow Northern Knights all-rounder Shane Getkate, making his ODI debut, claimed 2-33. Lorcan Tucker also claimed his first two dismissals for Ireland in ODI cricket.
The Ireland response began in a measured manner. After the loss of James McCollum (21), Paul Stirling and Andrew Balbirnie came together to put on a 105-run stand. The control they displayed ensured Ireland stayed well in the run chase without so much as a mis-shot to be seen.
Stirling was in imperious form, striking the ball cleanly and registering his fifth consecutive ODI fifty – an Irish record.
With the score on 133-1, Stirling (57) uncharacteristically played a chest-high ball and feathered it through to the keeper. A further two wickets fell, and after being in cruise control, Ireland found themselves wavering on 150-4 in the 33rd over.
It was then that 22-year old wicket-keeper/batsman Tucker came to the crease and with Balbirnie the pair put on 64 for the fifth wicket.
Tucker (23) fell hooking with the score on 214 and Balbirnie put the jitters in the home crowd by running himself out after just bringing up his well-deserved fifth ODI century.
With 26 needed from 28 balls, Ireland suddenly had two new batsmen at the crease – Adair and Getkate. After a few wayward shots, the pair then knuckled down and powered Ireland home to victory with nine balls to spare. Getkate finished on 16* from 13 balls, and Adair 21* from 13 balls.
Balbirnie said after the game: "It was enjoyable, a win is always that way. Paul [Stirling] and I batted well together. It’s a shame he got out when he did as we lost a bit of the momentum. But the fight shown by the guys coming in at the end was great – especially Mark and Shane there to finish the job off.
"Zimbabwe is a good team but I thought the Zimbabwe score was about par or a bit below, as the outfield was very quick and it was as good a wicket as I’ve played on here.
"I think looking ahead we can learn from last series against Afghanistan when we went one up and then we didn’t perform in the second. We’ll be desperate to train well and put in another good performance in the next ODI."
"Today was a good day for us and a good day for the whole set-up."
The two sides will meet for the second of three ODIs on Thursday at Stormont in Belfast, starting at 10.45am.
Ireland v Zimbabwe, GS Holdings ODI Series, 1 July 2019, Bready CC
Zimbabwe 254-9 (50 overs; C Ervine 105, R Burl 49*; M Adair 4-73, S Getkate 2-33)
Ireland 258-6 (48.2 overs; A Balbirnie 101, P Stirling 57; T Chatara 3-36)
