Do-or-die task for Chevrons

Brandon Moyo, [email protected]
CHEVRONS captain Craig Ervine says his side needs to pull up their socks and stick to their processes if they are to win the One Day International (ODI) series against Ireland, which concludes at Harare Sports Club today.

With the three-match series tied at 1-1, today’s match is the decider, with everything to play for between the two sides. Zimbabwe won the opener last Friday by 49 runs before Ireland bounced back to level the series with a six-wicket win on Sunday.

Speaking after Sunday’s defeat, Ervine said they would not be looking too far ahead, and what they needed to do was ensure they gave their all in the field today.

“We need to stick to our processes. We need to stick to our plans and try to execute them as best we can, and also stay in the moment and not look too far ahead. You want to go out there and win, but there is a process to winning, and we need to stick to those processes.

“All we can do is turn up today and try to give it our best shot again and hopefully clean up a few of those areas that went wrong on Sunday. We need to pull our socks up and hopefully, at the end of the day, we can say that we were the better team on the day,” said Ervine.

Zimbabwe are in search of their first series win since 2023, when they beat the Netherlands 2-1 in a three-match ODI series in Harare.

After winning the opener, Zimbabwe were asked to bat again on Sunday and were bowled out for 245 runs in 49 overs, with Wessly Madhevere and Sikandar Raza scoring half-centuries.

Ireland responded well with the bat, chasing down the target in 48.4 overs, finishing on 249/4, courtesy of two half-centuries from Paul Stirling and Curtis Campher.

Zimbabwe made one change to the team that played in the series opener last Friday. Trevor Gwandu came in for Newman Nyamhuri.

With Zimbabwe now on 77/3 in 17 overs, Madhevere and Raza tried to rebuild the innings with a 74-run partnership for the fourth wicket. Madhevere was then trapped in front for 61 runs off 70 balls, his sixth ODI half-century.

Raza, in his 150th ODI for the Chevrons, scored 58 runs off 75 balls. Wellington Masakadza chipped in with a handy 35 runs off as many deliveries, his new highest score in the longer format.

Adair was the pick of the Ireland bowlers, finishing with figures of 4/54 in his 10 overs, while Campher picked up three wickets for 13 in five overs. Graham Hume, Little, and Andy McBrine picked up one wicket apiece.

With the ball in hand, Zimbabwe once again lacked discipline as they gave away 23 extras, having conceded 28 in the previous game.

Stirling and Campher had a record-breaking 144-run second-wicket partnership. Their brilliant stand is now Ireland’s highest second-wicket stand against Zimbabwe in ODIs. Stirling scored 89 runs in the chase, while Campher made 63 runs.

Gwandu picked up two wickets for the Chevrons.

Three T20Is are lined up after the completion of the one-day games. The three matches are scheduled for February 22, 23, and 25.
Today’s crucial encounter is scheduled to start at 09:30 AM. – @brandon_malvin