Ireland celebrated St. Patricks Day with a victory over Test side Zimbabwe in Bangladesh in a finish that rivalled the tension of last Saturday’s nail biting Six Nations win in Paris.

Needing just seven runs from the last two overs with five wickets in hand an Ireland victory seemed assured. However excellent bowling induced panic in the Ireland batting. The penultimate over only brought three runs and the first two deliveries of the final over both produced singles.

The Zimbabwe pace bowler Panyangara then delivered a searing yorker to remove Ed Joyce and next ball Max Sorensen ran himself out going for risky single that would have tied the scores. Stuart Thompson flicked the fifth ball down to third man but a fine piece of fielding meant that one run was needed off the final ball. Alex Cusack missed his attempted drive but Thompson raced to the other end and would have been run out by yards if Zimbabwe skipper and wicketkeeper’s throw had hit the stumps. Fortunately Taylor missed and amid a flurry of bodies Thompson got home and Ireland had another famous win.

The match was remarkably reminiscent of the 2007 World Cup when Zimbabwe failed to score off the final ball of the match to give Ireland a tie.

William Porterfield had won the toss and asked Zimbabwe to bat first. With Stuart Thompson and Andy McBrine retained in the team from the warm up games, Tim Murtagh lost out to Max Sorensen. Although Alex Cusack made an early breakthrough when he had Raza caught by Sorensen at mid-on in the second over, Zimbabwe raced to 56 in the six over power play. Andy McBrine was introduced into the attack and removed Masakadza with his second ball and he followed that with the wicket of Williams off the final ball of the ninth over thanks to a smart piece of stumping by Gary Wilson. At halfway in the innings Zimbabwe had climbed to 85 and looked on course for at least 180.

That they fell 16 runs short was a tribute to the three Ireland spin bowlers, McBrine, George Dockrell and Paul Stirling. Between them they bowled twelve overs and took all five wickets to fall while conceding just 68 runs. Dockrell finished with 2 for 18, McBrine 2 for 26 and Stirling 0 for 24 and between them only gave up five boundaries, two of which went for six. Sorensen only bowled one over and surprisingly Thompson didn’t bowl at all.

Zimbabwe's Brendan Taylor ©INPHO/Surjeet

 

That Zimbabwe reached 163 was due to the failure of the seam bowlers to hit the right lines and lengths. Alex Cusack had a nightmare day with the ball and his four overs cost fifty three runs which included 4 fours and 4 sixes. Although Kevin O’Brien conceded 26 off his three overs he did deliver a superb 19th over which only cost six runs.
Brendan Taylor top scored for Zimbabwe with a measured 59 off just 46 deliveries until he holed out on the boundary off Dockrell’s bowling. Chigumbura smashed two sixes in the final over off Cusack and those seventeen runs off the last six balls pushed Zimbabwe to a competitive total.

In their matches this year the Ireland batting has been a cause of concern particularly the form of the opening partnership of Stirling and Porterfield. Today they turned to clock back to last November in the UAE as they dismantled the bowling and by the time Porterfield was caught on the boundary for 31 off twenty three balls the score was eighty. This was almost half way to the target and there were still almost twelve overs left. Ed Joyce then played a typical assured innings, turning the strike over to the rampaging Stirling at every opportunity. Stirling finally mistimed a big hit but his 60 off 34 deliveries was the crucial innings in the match. Andrew Poynter produced a delightful cameo as his fifteen ball 23 put Ireland on the cusp of victory with only 35 needed off 32 balls. Even a second ball duck by Gary Wilson didn’t appear to be more than a blip. It looked even less so when Kevin O’Brien blazed 17 from 10 balls and departed with a mere 7 runs required.

Ireland got there but as I predicted in my preview there were a lot of heart flutters before that last ball drama.
Ireland are now in pole position to qualify for the second stage and beating another Full Member should give them the impetus to reach their pre-tournament goal. However, especially in view of the today’s events, they will not take Wednesday afternoon’s opponents, UAE lightly.

The spin trio will again be key but serious thought must go into the configuration of the seam attack. Ireland may not survive a second time if the pace men don’t deliver.

However tonight is a cause for celebration as this squad again delivered when it really mattered.
If only we could play all of our matches on St. Patricks Day.