Online Reporter
Brandon Moyo
THE Chevrons’ One Day International (ODI) squad has been bolstered by the return of Craig Ervine and Sikandar Raza ahead of the series opener at Harare Sports Club tomorrow.
The Chevrons are scheduled to host Ireland in a three-match ODI series at the same venue, followed by as many T20Is.
Ervine left Bulawayo for Harare on the morning of day one of the Test match to attend to personal issues as his wife is said to have gone into labour.
He was replaced by Wessly Madhevere.
Raza missed the Test as he had already committed to franchise cricket before the tour schedule was confirmed.
Williams had not fully recovered from his injury.
Ervine and Raza have rejoined the rest of the team in Harare and have already begun their preparations in the nets ahead of tomorrow’s opener.
They started practice on Tuesday.
Raza comes back to the national team fresh from helping his Dubai Capitals team with their maiden International League T20 (ILT20) title.
Raza produced a strong batting performance late on in the innings of the final on Sunday in the United Arab Emirates.
The 38-year-old was one of the stars of the show as Dubai Capitals completed a final chase of 38 off 19 balls.
With vast experience on the T20 circuit under his belt, and walking in as a finisher when his team needed double the balls left in a crucial final, Raza smacked five fours and a six to win it for his team with four balls remaining.
Zimbabwe will be banking on the experience of Raza and Ervine to help the team make amends for their Test defeat.
Zimbabwe and Ireland have met 22 times in ODIs, with the latter winning 10 matches compared to the Chevrons’ eight.
One match was tied and three yielded no results.
In 15 T20Is, Ireland have registered eight wins compared to Zimbabwe’s seven.
After tomorrow’s opener, the other two ODIs are scheduled for Sunday and Tuesday.
The three T20Is are penciled in for February 22, 23 and 25.
ZIMBABWE ODI SQUAD:
Craig Ervine (Captain), Brian Bennett, Johnathan Campbell, Ben Curran, Trevor Gwandu, Wessly Madhevere, Tinotenda Maposa, Tadiwanashe Marumani, Wellington Masakadza, Nyasha Mayavo, Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, Newman Nyamhuri, Sikandar Raza, Sean Williams. IRELAND ODI SQUAD: Paul Stirling (c), Mark Adair, Andrew Balbirnie, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gavin Hoey, Graham Hume, Matthew Humphreys, Josh Little, Andrew McBrine, Barry McCarthy, Harry Tector, Morgan Topping, Lorcan Tucker, Craig Young.
