HARARE: Captain Paul Stirling, Mark Adair and Curtis Campher played pivotal roles as Ireland beat Zimbabwe by six wickets on Sunday to level a One-day International series with one match left.

Put in to bat, the hosts made 245 in 49 overs, thanks largely to a fourth-wicket partnership between Wessly Madhevere (61) and Sikandar Raza (58) at Harare Sports Club.

Seamer Adair (4-54) and quick Campher (3-13) excelled with the ball, with the latter taking his three wickets off six deliveries.

After the early loss of opener Andy Balbirnie (11), Stirling (89) and Campher (63) put on 144 runs for the second wicket to steer the tourists toward a convincing victory.

A four from Lorcan Tucker from the fourth ball of the penultimate over sealed victory for the visitors, who began an all-format tour with a 63-run win in a one-off Test.

The Zimbabwe bowlers struggled with medium-pacer Trevor Gwandu (2-50) producing the best figures.

The teams meet again on Tuesday in the third and final ODI with all to play for after Zimbabwe won the first match by 49 runs on Friday.

“We were the better team. Wessly and Sikandar batted well, then Curtis struck some decisive blows,” said Stirling.

“Restricting Zimbabwe to 245 boosted our morale as that was a target we could chase. Matches come thick and fast these days and now we must prepare for the decider.”

Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine (4) said: “We need about 280 to be competitive. Losing three wickets in quick succession was a huge setback.

“More early wickets could have produced a different outcome, but the partnership between Paul and Curtis set it up for them.”

Struggling with cramps, Stirling had to settle for a 31st ODI half-century after a miscued pull shot off Richard Ngarava took a leading edge and Madhevere made a catch at extra cover.

His departure after a 102-ball stand that included two sixes and eight fours left Ireland 200-4, and unbeaten knocks from Tucker (36) and George Dockrell (20) completed the task.

Earlier, Campher claimed a seventh half century before being trapped leg before by Gwandu attempting a pull shot.

Zimbabwe opener Brian Bennett, who struck 169 in the first ODI, could only make 30 and his team were 77-3 when Madhevere and Raza came together.

Madhevere fell leg before to a Campher delivery aimed at off stump, and a spectacular low catch at deep mid wicket from Hector Tector sent Raza to the pavilion.

SCOREBOARD

ZIMBABWE:

B. Bennett c Stirling b Adair 30

B. Curran b McBrine 18

C. Ervine b Little 4

W. Madhevere lbw Campher 61

S. Raza c Tector b Adair 58

J. Campbell c Tucker b Campher 2

T. Marumani lbw Campher 0

W. Masakadza b Hume 35

R. Ngarava not out 17

B. Muzarabani b Adair 0

T. Gwandu b Adair 2

EXTRAS (LB-9, W-9) 18

TOTAL (all out, 49 overs) 245

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-38 (Bennett), 2-47 (Ervine), 3-77 (Curran), 4-151 (Madhevere), 5-157 (Campbell), 6-157 (Marumani), 7-207 (Sikandar), 8-232 (Masakadza), 9-233 (Muzarabani)

BOWLING: Adair 10-0-54-4 (3w), Hume 10-0-47-1, Little 9-1-56-1 (5w), Humphreys 8-0-30-0, McBrine 7-1-36-1, Campher 5-1-13-3 (1w)

IRELAND:

A. Balbirnie c Marumani b Muzarabani 11

P. Stirling c Madhevere b Ngarava 89

C. Campher lbw Gwandu 63

H. Tector c Marumani b Gwandu 7

L. Tucker not out 36

G. Dockrell not out 20

EXTRAS (B-4, LB-2, NB-2, W-15) 23

TOTAL (for four wickets, 48.4 overs) 249

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-27 (Balbirnie), 2-171 (Campher), 3-181 (Tector), 4-200 (Stirling)

DID NOT BAT: M. Adair, A. McBrine, G. Hume, M. Humphreys, J. Little

BOWLING: Ngarava 9-0-53-1 (1nb), Muzarabani 10-2-51-1 (5w), Gwandu 9-2-50-2 (1w, 1nb), Masakadza 10-0-40-0, Raza 8.4-0-36-0 (1w), Campbell 2-0-13-0

RESULT: Ireland won the match by six wickets.

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2025