The Chevrons

[Perfect1979]

Zimbabwe Squad for Test Match in Ireland

Batsmen
Panashe Rusere - Southern Rocks - 32
Brian Chari - Matabeleland - 32
Ben Curran - Rhinos - 28
Freddie MacBride - Mashonaland - 39

Wicketkeepers
Tadiwanashe Marumani - Mashonaland - 21

All Rounders
Sean Williams - SLA - Matabeleland - 37
Sikandar Raza (c) - OS - Northamptonshire - 37
Ryan Burl - LS - Rhinos - 29
Dion Myers - RM - Manicaland - 22

Bowlers
Jalat Khan - LF - Southern Rocks - 25
Siphelele Phiri - RFM - Manicaland - 33
Donald Tiripano - RFM - Manicaland - 36
Blessing Muzarabani - RMF - Southern Rocks - 27

Finally time to dawn the whites! Was not sure if I would have to pick one squad for the whole tour of Ireland but turns out I get to pick a Test specific squad to kick off the tour. T Marumani returns after missing the T20 series against India through injury and he along with Ben Curran & Jalat Khan may make there Test debut. Never played the game in Ireland before so expecting English type conditions all our bowlers are pace bowlers with Khan being and out and out fast bowler, our all rounders will bring the spin into play as required.

[Perfect1979]

Test Match @ Malahide Cricket Ground, Dublin

Ireland XI: J Osmond, N Thomas, A Kerr, H Tector, L Tucker, C Campher, S Mercer, P Stirling, M Adair, J Birch, J Walsh
Zimbabwe XI: P Rusere, B Chari, B Curran, T Marumani, S Williams, D Myers, S Raza (c), R Burl, B Muzarabani, S Phiri, J Khan

Ireland won the toss and elected to bowl

Zimbabwe 211 B Chari 53, D Myers 44, B Curran 26 / J Birch 5-88, C Campher 3-63, M Adair 1-37
Ireland 304 L Tucker 133, S Mercer 31, P Stirling 25 / B Muzarabani 5-62, S Phiri 3-51, S Raza 1-43

Zimbabwe 223 P Rusere 52, B Chari 41, S Williams 40 / C Campher 4-73, J Walsh 3-49, J Birch 2-73
Ireland 134/4 A Kerr 63, H Tector 23, C Campher 21no / S Phiri 2-54, S Raza 1-3, B Muzarabani 1-35

Ireland won by 6 wicket - Man of the Match C Campher

Ireland triumphed in this one of Test match in Dublin early on day 4 to hand the touring Zimbabweans an 11th straight defeat in all formats under there new coaching regime. In cloudy, bowler friendly conditions the hosts won the toss and to nobody's surprise elected to bowl first. However the difference in the first innings came down to a fantastic innings by Tucker who scored a rapid 133. Zimbabwe started there 2nd innings well and had overturned the deficit without the loss of any wickets but then lost 5 wickets for just 20 runs and in the end a target 131 set for Ireland was never going to be enough.

Hugely downheartend to lose this Test match, our inability to deal with Tucker at the crease was ulitimately the difference. We get losing wickets in blocks in both innings.

Point of Interest - T Marumani, B Curran & J Khan made there Test debuts

[Perfect1979]

Zimbabwe Squad for ODI Series in Ireland

Batsmen
Alistair Frost - Southern Rocks - 25
Panashe Rusere - Southern Rocks - 32
Freddie MacBride - Mashonaland - 39
Antum Naqvi - Rhinos - 25
Brian Bennett - Manicaland - 21

Wicketkeepers
Joylord Gumbie - Manicaland - 28
David Tshuma - Matabeleland - 23

All Rounders
Sikandar Raza (c) - OS - Northamptonshire - 37
Sean Williams - SLA - Matabeleland - 37
Eric Ncube - RFM - Matabeleland - 28
Ryan Burl - LS - Rhinos - 29

Bowlers
Richard Ngarava - LFM - Mashonaland - 26
Blessing Muzarabani - RMF - Southern Rocks - 27
Siphelele Phiri - RFM - Manicaland - 33
Trevor Gwandu - RFM - Southern Rocks - 26

After the disappointment of losing the one off Test Match it is time for our first ODI matches since taking charge. A 3 match series on paper against Ireland should give us hope but the hosts have beaten South Africa 2-1 in a series last month.

[Perfect1979]

1st ODI @ Malahide Cricket Ground, Dublin

Ireland XI: P Stirling, K King, A Kerr, L Tucker, H Tector, C Campher, G Dockrell, A McBrine, M Adair, C Young, J Walsh
Zimbabwe XI: A Frost, J Gumbie, F MacBride, B Bennett, S Williams, S Raza (c), R Burl, E Ncube, B Muzarabani, S Phiri, R Ngarava

Ireland won the toss and elected to bowl.

Zimbabwe 257/9 (50 Overs) B Bennett 105, J Gumbie 39, S Williams 38 / C Campher 5-46, M Adair 2-43, C Young 2-43
Ireland 218 (45.3 Overs) A Kerr 46, L Tucker 37, K King 37 / S Williams 3-28, S Phiri 3-52, R Burl 2-29

Zimbabwe won by 39 runs - Man of the Match B Bennett

Finally at the 12th attempt a victory, which in the end was comfortable. After being put into bat we started slowly averaging only around 3 a over but 2 80+ partnerships back to back between first MacBride and Bennett and then Bennett and Williams were the foundations of our innings. Bennett's century is the first for a Zimbabwean since we took over and his 105 came off 92 balls with Williams providing support with his 38 coming off 29 balls. Importantly when both Bennett and Williams fell towards the end of the innings the remaining batters although not scoring high scored quickly to give us a target to defend. Ireland were given a 85% chance of victory at the start of there reply but the Zimbabwean bowlers really stepped up, after the opening bowlers kept the required run rate just above 5 a over when Phiri (who's figures were distorted by 1 bad over) and the spinners then came in they really managed to suffacte the Irish batters.

Point of Interest - Frost and Bennett both made there ODI debut's (what a way to start for Bennett) and the 84 put on for the 4th wicket by Bennett and Williams was a record partnership for the 4th wicket against Ireland.

[Perfect1979]

2nd ODI @ Malahide Cricket Ground, Dublin

Ireland XI: P Stirling, K King, A Kerr, L Tucker, H Tector, C Campher, G Dockrell, A McBrine, M Adair, C Young, J Walsh
Zimbabwe XI: P Rusere, J Gumbie, F MacBride, B Bennett, S Williams, S Raza (c), R Burl, E Ncube, B Muzarabani, S Phiri, R Ngarava

1 change for Zimbabwe with Rusere replacing Frost to open the batting, Ireland name a unchanged side.

Ireland 251/8 (50 Overs) L Tucker 56, A McBrine 39no, A Kerr 38 / S Phiri 3-57, R Burl 2-28, S Raza 1-33
Zimbabwe 254/7 (49.3 Overs) S Williams 64, P Rusere 53, J Gumbie 50 / M Adair 3-42, A McBrine 2-37, J Walsh 2-45

Zimbabwe won by 3 wickets - Man of the Match S Williams
Zimbabwe lead the series 2-0

Zimbabwe backed up there win in the 1st ODI with a confident performance to clinch the series with a game to spare. Ireland won the toss and elected to bat and once again Zimbabwe's bowlers were able to keep the run rate low and pick up wickets whenever a partnership began to grow. However with around 15 overs remaining the Irish batters started to cut loose and get the run rate over the 5/over mark by the end of the 50 overs. Zimbabwe's reply started off on the front foot with a opening parnership of 99, a little wobble then followed as 4 wickets were lost for just 18 runs. However Williams lead the middle order fightback and with the run rate well under control Zimbabwe coasted to the finish.

Point of Interest - The 83 runs put on by Williams and Burl set a new 6 wicket partnership record for a Ireland-Zimbabwe match.

[Perfect1979]

3rd ODI @ Malahide Cricket Ground, Dublin

Ireland XI: P Stirling, K King, A Kerr, L Tucker, H Tector, C Campher, G Dockrell, A McBrine, M Adair, C Young, J Walsh
Zimbabwe XI: P Rusere, J Gumbie, F MacBride, A Naqvi, S Williams, S Raza (c), R Burl, E Ncube, B Muzarabani, S Phiri, R Ngarava

Ireland again name a unchanged XI, Zimbabwe with the series already won bring in Naqvi for his international debut in place of Bennett.

Ireland won the toss and elected to bat

Ireland 238/9 (50 Overs) A Kerr 83, C Campher 35, L Tucker 34 / B Muzarabani 3-30, E Ncube 2-22, R Ngarava 2-41
Zimbabwe 239/3 (47.4 Overs) F MacBride 73no, J Gumbie 62, A Naqvi 58 / C Young 1-38, J Walsh 1-43, M Adair 1-55

Zimbabwe win by 7 wickets - Man of the Match F MacBride
Zimbabwe win series 3-0

Zimbabwe complete the whitewash with another comfortable victory over the hosts. After 2 early wickets a 90 run 3rd run partnership got the Irish in a good position but Zimbabwe were always able to hold the run rate down and as the innings progressed picked up regular wickets to blunt the Irish. In response once again the Zimbabwe openers put on a solid partnership scoring 79 runs to get the chase on its way. MacBride unbeaten on 73 and debutant Naqvi who scored 48 put on 110 runs for the 3rd wicket and the tourists were able to coast to the target without to many scares.

Point of Interest - A Naqvi made 58 on his debut and was part of a record 3rd wicket partnership of 110 with MacBride that is a record for 3rd wicket in a Ireland-Zimbabwe match

[Perfect1979]

IRELAND v ZIMBABWE ODI SERIES REVIEW - 8th August 2024 to 12th August 2024

Zimbabwe win series 3-0

1st ODI - Dublin - Zimbabwe win by 39 runs
2nd ODI - Dublin - Zimbabwe win by 3 wickets
3rd ODI - Dublin - Zimbabwe win by 7 wickets

Player of the Series - S Williams (Zimbabwe)

Ireland Player Stats - Zimbabwe Player Stats
A Kerr 167 runs - J Gumbie 151 runs
L Tucker 127 runs - F MacBride 116 runs
C Campher 98 runs - B Bennett 112 runs

M Adair 6 wickets - S Williams 6 wickets
C Campher 5 wickets - S Phiri 6 wickets
J Walsh 3 wickets - B Muzarabani 5 wickets

A 3-0 series white wash for the tourists, a result that see's them leapfrog the Irish into 11th on the World Rankings. Zimbabwe throughly deserved to win all 3 games, with the bowlers keeping the run rate respectable while the batsmen, especially when chasing were always in control of the run rate. On now to the 3 match T20 series to finish the tour (the IRish reached the semi finals of the T20 World Cup).

Positives for Zimbabwe - Wins at last and against Ireland at least the team looks well balanced for one day cricket. From the second game when we opened with Rusere and Gumbie we got off to great starts (99 & 79) and from then on we did not have to be to expansive to chase down targets. In 13 ODI/T20 games we have yet to be bowled out. Bennett hitting a fantastic 105 in the first match brought up a first century for a Zimbabwean since taking over.

Negatives for Zimbabwe - None really

Captain Performance - S Raza - 34 runs (only batted twice and one was not out) and just the one wicket. Better from the captain, he did what was needed when he came in at number 6 in the batting and while he only took one wicket he helped keep the scoring in check