T20 World Cup 2022: All-round Sikandar Raza, bowlers help Zimbabwe beat Ireland by 31 runs

After
batters
posted
a
respectable
174
for
7
in
the
stipulated
20
overs,
Zimbabwe
bowlers
then
joined
the
party
to
restrict
Ireland
to
143/9
to
begin
their
campaign
in
the
showpiece
event
on
a
positive
note
in
round
one
of
the
tournament.

Zimbabwe
suffer
early
setback

Ireland
captain
Andy
Balbirnie
opted
to
field
after
winning
the
toss
and
his
bowlers
responded
well
as
they
reduced
Zimbabwe
to
37/3
within
the
powerplay.
Left-arm
pacer
Josh
Little
dismissed
Regis
Chakabva
for
a
duck
and
then
went
on
to
dismiss
Wesley
Madhevere,
who
looked
in
good
touch
during
his
knock
of
22.
Spinner
Simi
Singh
increased
Zimbabwe’s
miseries
further
as
he
dismissed
skipper
Craig
Ervine
in
the
very
next
over.

1

53387

Raza
shines
once
again

It
was
very
important
for
Zimbabwe
to
get
a
partnership
going
after
those
early
wickets
and
they
got
exactly
that
as
Raza
and
Sean
Williams
put
on
a
stand
of
42
runs
for
the
fourth
wicket.
Simi
Singh
dismissed
Williams
in
the
11th
over
of
the
innings
to
bring
Ireland
back
into
the
game
but
there
was
no
stopping
Raza
who
went
completely
berserk.

Even
though
wickets
kept
falling
at
one
end,
Raza
carried
on
his
assault
from
the
other
end.
The
Ireland
bowlers
had
no
answer
to
his
onslaught
as
the
36-year-old
kept
motoring
on.
Even
though
he
kept
running
out
of
partners
throughout
the
innings,
Raza
did
get
good
support
at
the
back
end
from
Luke
Jongwe,
who
remained
unbeaten
on
20
from
just
10
deliveries.

Raza
played
right
until
the
end
of
Zimbabwe’s
innings
but
he
was
cleaned
up
while
going
for
a
big
shot
in
the
very
last
delivery.
The
veteran
all-rounder
made
82
from
48
deliveries,
an
innings
consisting
of
five
fours
and
as
many
sixes,
and
powered
Zimbabwe
to
a
total
of
174/7,
which
looked
unlikely
at
one
point.

Muzarabani
and
Ngarava’s
opening
spell
destroys
Ireland

Ireland
needed
to
get
off
to
a
good
start
to
chase
the
target
down
but
that
was
made
impossible
by
Blessing
Muzarabani
and
Richard
Ngarava
as
the
duo
bowled
a
brilliant
opening
spell
to
get
rid
of
their
top-order.
It
was
Ngarava
who
sent
both
Paul
Stirling
and
Lorcan
Tucker
back
to
the
dugout
in
the
first
three
overs
of
the
game.
Muzarabani
followed
up
with
the
wickets
of
Harry
Tector
and
Andrew
Balbirnie
in
the
very
next
over
to
reduce
Ireland
to
22/4.

Curtis
Campher
(27)
and
George
Dockrell
(24)
tried
their
best
to
lead
Ireland’s
recovery
but
their
42-run
partnership
was
broken
when
Raza
came
on
to
bowl
and
cleaned
Dockrell
up
completely.
The
veteran
all-rounder
played
a
magnificent
knock
when
Zimbabwe
needed
it
the
most
and
now
he
delivered
with
the
ball
to
give
them
a
much-needed
breakthrough
as
well.
The
likes
of
Gareth
Delaney
(24)
and
Barry
McCarthy
(22*)
tried
to
get
Ireland
close
to
the
target
but
they
still
fell
short
by
31
runs.

(ICC)