Twitter Reactions: Sikandar Raza's 82-run knock leads Zimbabwe to a comfortable win over Ireland

Zimbabwe have drawn first blood in the  T20 World Cup 2022 with a clinical 31-run win over Ireland in the fourth group match of the First Round at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Monday, October 17. The Irish team was expected to get this one right as they were the stronger side on paper, but it was the Zimbabweans who made it matter on the given day. 

Zimbabwe clicked well as a unit in all departments in this group encounter while the Irish batters had a forgettable day even though the bowlers had tried their level best to restrict the opposition to a manageable total on a good wicket. 

Ireland skipper Andrew Balbirnie called it right at the toss and elected to bowl first in this Group B encounter. The move seemed to be a good one as Zimbabwe suffered an early setback losing wicketkeeper-batter Regis Chakabva without troubling the scorers.

The Zimbabweans kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 79/4 in the 10 overs. Nonetheless, the batters did not give up as star all-rounder Sikandar Raza's quickfire 48-ball 82 helped them post a competitive total of 174/7. 

Josh Little (3/24) was the pick of the bowlers for Ireland while Mark Adair and Simi Singh picked up two wickets each.

Ireland stutter in chase

In reply, even Ireland suffered an early setback as they lost power-hitter Paul Stirling for a silver duck and captain Balbirnie followed soon for just three runs against his name. Ireland's misery continued and within no time they found themselves reeling at 64/5 inside 10 overs.

Only the middle-order duo of George Dockrell and Gareth Delany (both 24) showed some resistance in what was otherwise a sorry-looking scorecard for the Irish unit. Barry McCarthy contributed with a valiant knock of an unbeaten 16-ball 22 at the backend of the chase. However, it was not at all enough as Ireland were eventually restricted to 143/9 from their 20 overs. 

For Zimbabwe, Blessing Muzarabani was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/23. Richard Ngarava and Tendai Chatara contributed with two wickets while Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza picked up a scalp each. 

Here's how Twitter reacted to Zimbabwe's win over Ireland:

🇿🇼 set Ireland 1⃣7⃣5⃣ runs to win in 20 overs

(Raza 82, Madhevere 22, Shumba 16; Little 3/24, Singh 2/31)

📷 ICC/GettyImages#ZIMvIRE | #T20WorldCup pic.twitter.com/T747Sm6KNH

— Zimbabwe Cricket (@ZimCricketv) October 17, 2022

A solid performance from Zimbabwe 🥳

They start off their campaign with a win against Ireland in the Group B fixture 👏🏻#ZIMvIRE | #T20WorldCup | 📝 https://t.co/AzCNiptOur pic.twitter.com/UyrdR6wsO9

— ICC (@ICC) October 17, 2022

A solid performance from Zimbabwe 🥳

They start off their campaign with a win against Ireland in the Group B fixture 👏🏻#ZIMvIRE | #T20WorldCup | 📝 https://t.co/AzCNiptOur pic.twitter.com/UyrdR6wsO9

— ICC (@ICC) October 17, 2022

#Zimbabwe beat Ireland by 31 runs and are now 2nd in the Group B table. Zimbabwe made 175 and
Ireland only managed 143/9

Superb job by the fast bowlers#T20WorldCup  #ZIMvIRE pic.twitter.com/NeIRc1id45

— Peterson (@PetersonTengen2) October 17, 2022

The well of sympathy rapidly running dry I'm afraid. #T20WorldCup #ZIMvIRE

— Ian Johnston (@jontycricket) October 17, 2022

Well done @ZimCricketv @SRazaB24 and the bowlers, great start to the @T20WorldCup #ZIMvsIRE

— Brendan Taylor (@BrendanTaylor86) October 17, 2022

Top knock @SRazaB24 & excellent bowling performance @ZimCricketv …. Go 🇿🇼 #ICCT20WorldCup2022

— Alan Butcher (@abutch58) October 17, 2022

Nicely done @ZimCricketv 👏 ..

— Herschelle Gibbs (@hershybru) October 17, 2022