TOWERING seamer Blessing Muzarabani delivered a majestic bowling display, but it was not enough to prevent Zimbabwe’s six-wicket defeat against Ireland at Harare Sports Club yesterday.
The loss leaves the One Day International series evenly balanced at 1-1.
Zimbabwe posted 245 all out inside 49 overs, with resurgent all-rounder Wessly Madhevere top-scoring with 61 runs off 70 balls. Sikandar Raza contributed 58 off 75 deliveries, but neither player could reach a century.
Muzarabani struck early, dismissing Irish opener Andy Balbirnie for 11 off 20 balls. He bowled a 10-over spell that went for 52 runs, keeping Zimbabwe in the game.
However, Ireland skipper Paul Stirling had other plans, scoring 89 off 102 balls before being caught by Madhevere off Richard Ngarava. Curtis Campher, named player of the match, scored 63 from 94 balls and took three wickets for 13 runs from five overs.
Ireland crossed the line with eight balls remaining, reaching 249/4.
Player of the match Campher singled out Muzarabani for praise with the way he accounted himself with the ball.
“Stirling is a great captain. He just says, do what you do and hit your straps. And yeah, thankfully, today it came off. Was just trying to get the ball down as best I can. I’ve been working in the winter, so it’s been nice. It’s paid off,” said Campher.
“The big lad (Muzarabani) bowled beautifully. We just tried to nullify the first few overs as long as we could, and bat. While chasing a score of 250 gets a bit tricky, so it’s all about occupying the crease as much as you can.”
Ireland captain Stirling also commended Muzarabani, calling him an “X Factor bowler.”
“Look, he’s an X Factor bowler (Muzarabani). He’s certainly got a lot of wickets against us, and we need to try and keep him as quiet as possible,” Stirling said.
“And look, there’s a bit of up and down there today, and sometimes there’s a bit of lateral movement. But if we got past that up-and-down movement, I think we could get a win.”
Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine conceded that his team didn’t put enough runs on the board.
“I thought, 280, odd, would have been a pretty good score. Would have been nice to win the toss, but anyway. We were going one at one stage I think around that 30 over mark. And then losing, three wickets in quick succession. I think really picked us back,” Ervine said.
“But credit to Ireland, I thought they stuck to their guns. Curtis, obviously bowled extremely well in that middle period, which obviously picked us back quite a bit. Those early wickets really do get you on top and give you that momentum. Stirling and Curtis again, batted really well. It wasn’t really a great wicket to bat on. But I thought they stuck at it and played really well. We probably gave maybe a few too many extras to that little period.”
Stirling gave credit to his team for sticking to their game plan.
“I think we were better, to be honest. I think there was no lull in that middle period. I think Sikandar and Wessly batted really well in the middle, and I think that’s when we were the most under pressure and to come through that, chuck the ball to Curtis, and he really turned the game on its head,” Stirling said.
“I think they stuck at it really well. I think at the halfway, we were looking at about 270-280 plus, and that would have been tough out there. Especially, haven’t seen what it was like for the last 20 overs, so credit to us, we came back and I think 250 was about right for us to chase and we got there.”
The third and final ODI is scheduled for Harare Sports Club tomorrow.
