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Mehluli Sibanda, Sports Editor
THE coaches have given the final instructions, the players have had plenty time of fine tuning, what is left is for Zimbabwe and Ireland to collide in the first Twenty20 International at Harare Sports Club this afternoon.
At lunchtime today, the first ball will be bowled to signal the start of international cricket action in Zimbabwe for the year 2023.
Zimbabwean coach Dave Houghton, a man who brought with him the Midas touch when he took over the role from Lalchand Rajput last year will look to continue on the upward trajectory the team was on last year.
Dave Houghton post match
Houghton has to do without Sikandar Raza, by far Zimbabwe’s best player in international cricket this year who has been given permission to skip the T20Is against Ireland to appear for Rangpur Riders in the Bangladesh Premier League. Raza will be back in Zimbabwe for the One Day Internationals against the Irish, which get underway on January 18.
Sikandar Raza with his Player of the Match accolade
Pace bowler Blessing Muzarabani, who is recovering from a quadriceps injury is also out of action.
Blessing Muzarabani
Zimbabwe have selected former England batsman Gary Ballance after the left handed switched allegiance back to the country of his birth.
Gary Ballance
Ballance has never played this format of this game at international level and he will make his debut at the age of 33, most likely today. The presence of Ballance should bring steadiness to the batting order where Sean Williams, Craig Ervine, Wessly Madhevere, Ryan Burl and Luke Jongwe will also play a crucial role.
Wessly Madhevere’s career-best 72 held Zimbabwe together and made Australia work hard to break the back of the Chevrons
With Regis Chakabva out of the mix, Tadiwanashe Marumani looks certain to fight off competition from Clive Madande to be the wicketkeeper.
In the absence of Muzarabani, recently wedded left arm seamer Richard Ngarava is expected to be the leading light for the Zimbabwean bowling attack with Tendai Chatara, Bradley Evans and Jongwe on the pace side. In the spin bowling department, Williams and Burl can be relied upon to slow things down whenever there is a need.
Richard Ngarava in his delivery stride
The two sides met in a first round fixture at the International Cricket Council Men’s T20 World Cup in Australia and Zimbabwe won that match by 31 runs, which means the Irish will certainly be out for revenge. In the last bilateral series clash in 2021, Ireland took the five-match contest 3-2 on Irish soil and Zimbabwe will go out with that in mind. The Irish landed in Harare on Sunday and had their first fine tuning session at the match venue the next day.
Craig Ervine and Tadiwanashe Marumani loosening up
Last year, the Chevrons brought some excitement with their brand of cricket after the coming in of Houghton to replace Rajput. Fans turned up in their thousands to back the boys in red in Bulawayo and Harare.
The spectators, hungry for some live sporting action should be there in numbers at Harare Sports Club from today, with high expectations that the boys will not leave them heart broken.
Zimbabwe and Ireland have met 10 times before in this format of the game, with five wins for the Irish while the Zimbabweans have triumphed four times with one match abandoned.
Ireland coach Heinrich Malan will be keen to continue his team’s dominance over Zimbabwe in T20Is.
Malan will look to the likes of skipper Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell and Mark Adair in his quest to extend his team’s supremacy over the host nation in the shortest format of the game.
Teams
Zimbabwe: Craig Ervine (captain), Gary Ballance, Ryan Burl, Tendai Chatara, Bradley Evans, Luke Jongwe, Innocent Kaia, Clive Madande, Wessly Madhevere, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Tony Munyonga, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sean Williams
Ireland: Andrew Balbirnie (captain), Mark Adair, Curtis Campher, Gareth Delany, George Dockrell, Stephen Doheny, Fionn Hand, Graham Hume, Tyrone Kane, Barry McCarthy, Neil Rock, Harry Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Ben White. — @Mdawini_29.
Online Reporter