Online Reporter
Don Makanyanga-Zimpapers Sports Hub
ZIMBABWE and Ireland will today resume their rivalry, albeit on the T20 arena, as the full tour between the two cricketing nations heads for the home stretch.
The tour is evenly poised with each time claiming a series win after Ireland took the once-off Test, courtesy of their 63-run victory at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo, while Zimbabwe took the three-match ODI series 2-1 earlier this week.
The stage is now set for the three-match T20 series, which starts today at Harare Sports Club.
Zimbabwe and Ireland will then conclude their festivities with the second and third T20s tomorrow and on Tuesday.
It is in the T20 format that the two teams are more familiar with each other after having met 15 times and the visitors carrying a slight edge over the Chevrons.
Ireland have won eight matches against Zimbabwe’s seven.
And after losing the ODI series, Ireland have their eyes on bouncing back and claiming the T20 format.
“We have come to Zimbabwe, we have come to Harare, we have lost in the end (ODI series) but you know what, we have come here and won before, and we will hopefully win this one,’’ Ireland skipper Paul Stirling said.
“We are not going to get too down (after losing the ODI series), we are going to stick our chest out and try and prove ourselves again in the T20s,” he said.
Stirling revealed that he relishes the contests that have existed between two sides since the first meeting in 2007.
“We played in the 2007 World Cup and I think that sort of set the tone for the rivalry.
“It has been a great series this time around, and great competition between these two sides over the years.
“There is a huge amount of respect between the two sides,” said the Irish batter.
As Zimbabwe aim to maintain their dominance in the white-ball format, coach Justin Sammons has called on his charges to trust their own process.
“There have been moments that could have gone our way that did not, and that’s obviously hurt us in a sense,” he said.
“But I think the message is the same as what it’s always been, and that is that we want to try and, in those moments, play to win the game.
“We don’t want to wait for the opposition to make mistakes, but to actually go and grab the bull by the horns,” said the Chevrons coach.
Of their seven wins over Ireland, the Chevrons won three of them at home.
