A combined effort by the Irish top order laid a great foundation for them to score 174 runs. Mark Adair picked up three wickets in his first spell, which created a big hole in Zimbabwe’s batting, and there was no looking back then as Ireland won their third consecutive match with ease.
Veteran batsman Kevin O’Brien and Paul Stirling, who scored an unbeaten century in the last match, got their side off to a fantastic start. Captain Andrew Balbirnie added a well-paced 36 runs to the total. Wellington Masakadza (2 for 22) picked up the crucial wickets of O’Brien and Stirling while also being economical in the process.
Zimbabwe were not able to keep a check on the runs during the last few overs, and Ireland took advantage of it and scored 174 runs at the loss of four wickets.
The pressure was on the African side as they had failed to score a similar total in the last match, and a loss here would make Ireland victors of the series with one game to spare.
Mark Adair (4 for 23) was in sensational form as he dismissed 3 of the top order batsmen for cheap scores. Captain Craig Ervine (28 off 30) tried steadying the ship but lacked support from the other end and eventually perished due to the ever-increasing required run-rate.
Luke Jongwe smashed a blistering 24* off 20 balls, but the match was well over by then. The Irish bowling contingent can pat themselves on the back as each one of them picked up at least one wicket, and none of them had an economy rate in excess of 6. This win means that Ireland take a 3-1 lead in the five-match T20I series.
Brief Scores
Ireland: 174/4 in 20 overs (Kevin O’Brien 47, Paul Stirling 39; Wellington Masakadza 2/22, Richard Ngarava 1/25) defeated
Zimbabwe: 110/9 in 20 overs (Craig Ervine 28, Luke Jongwe 24*; Mark Adair 4/23, Shane Getkate 2/19)
Man of the Match
Mark Adair
