Zimbabwe v Ireland 3rd ODI: Tim Murtagh's all round performance helps Ireland salvage pride

Zimbabwe v Ireland 3^rd ODI: Tim Murtagh’s all round performance helps Ireland salvage pride: Thanks to all-round performance from Tim Murtagh and contributions from Stirling and Brien as Ireland defeated Zimbabwe in the 3^rd One day International match at Harare Sports Club to salvage some pride in the series. Murtagh picked 4 wickets and also scored 19 crucial runs to help Ireland win the match by 2 wickets.

In 3rd ODl the fortunes changed as Ireland won the toss and elected to bowl. Zimbabwe got off to the worst start losing Mutumambi for 0. The Irish bowlers were bowling tight line and lengths not allowing Zimbabwe batsmen to score runs. Chibhabha also went cheaply as Zimbabwe was struggling at 7 for 2. At the end of 10 over’s Zimbabwe were 28 for 2. Chari and Williams played slow and steadied the innings.

Chari was dismissed by McBrine for 17 off 56 balls. Both of them shared a 43 runs 3rd wicket partnership in 15 overs. Sean Williams played a crucial knock of 51 in 69 balls. When Williams was looking towards a big score he was dismissed by Stirling for 51. At the end of 30 over’s Zimbabwe were 100 for 4 with captain Chigumbura and Raza at the crease. Both of them played steadily taking singles and doubles putting pressure on the Irish bowling line up.

The Irish bowling did not concede too many runs and were 117 for 4 in 35 overs. Both the batsmen scored runs at brisk pace as Raza and Chigumbura put up 71 runs for the 5^th wicket. Chigumbura was dismissed for 34 at the score of 159. Soon after Raza was dismissed for a well made 50 by Murtagh. Zimbabwe lost another wicket of Mutombodzi for just 3. Jongwe and Masakadza were looking to play the full quota of over’s. Jongwe and Masakadza were dismissed in space of 1 run leaving Zimbabwe at 175 for 9.

Nyumbu and Muzarabani tried to play to the remaining overs but Muzarabani was last batsman to be dismissed for 3 as Zimbabwe were bowled out for 187 in 49.2 over’s. Raza, Williams, Chigmbura were the only substantial contributors in the innings. The pick of bowlers for Ireland was Tim Murtagh who picked 4 wickets giving away 32 runs and the rest of bowlers gave him considerable support to be effective.

Chasing a target of 188 Ireland openers began cautiously scoring 31 runs off the first 7 overs. William Porterfield was the first man to be dismissed for 20 by Muzarabani. At the end of 10 overs Ireland were 45 for 1. After the wicket of Porterfield, Joyce joined Stirling but Joyce was could score only 7 as he fell prey to Masakadza.

Balbirnie and Stirling steadied the innings getting singles and hitting the occasional boundaries. Both of them shared a 48 runs partnership for the 3^rd wicket before Balbirnie was dismissed for 24. Soon after, N O Brien was dismissed cheaply for just 1 leaving Ireland reeling at 102 for 4 at the end of 28 overs. Stirling remained firm and was scoring at the brisk pace. Stirling scored his half century and was dismissed soon after for 50 by Muzarabani leaving Ireland at 119 for 5.

Wilson and Kevin O’ Brien put on 21 for the 6^th wicket but Wilson too was dismissed for 19. Kevin was also dismissed for 10 by Maskadza leaving Ireland in big trouble at 148 for 7. G Dockrell went for 13 and Ireland was struggling at 160 for 8 with 28 runs to score. Murtagh and O’ Brien slowly reduced the runs to only 19. Tim Murtagh and O’Brien ensured that Ireland won the match by 2 wickets, with 19 balls in hand. Mutombodzi, Maskadza and Muzarabani picked 2 wickets each while Jongwe picked a wicket. Eventually Zimbabwe won the series 2-1.

Brief Scores:

Zimbabwe – 187/10 49.2 overs (Sean Williams 51, Sikandar Raza 50; Tim Murtagh 4/32)

Ireland – 189/8 46.5 overs (Stirling 50, Balbrine 24; Maskadza 2/31, Mutombodzi 2/33)

Ireland won the match by 2 wickets

Man of the Match –Tim Murtagh