In the only Test against Ireland, Zimbabwe is chasing a target of 292 runs and finished Day 3 at 38/3 after losing 3 wickets.
After a disappointing first innings, Andy Balbirnie played a solid knock, scoring a fifty. Lorcan Tucker also contributed with a half-century. Together with some other useful contributions, Ireland set a challenging target for Zimbabwe to achieve. The hosts were under pressure after losing top-order batsmen in this tough chase.
In the second innings of Ireland’s 298 runs, Zimbabwe began their chase, ending Day 3 at 38/3. They still need 254 more runs to win, while Ireland needs 7 more wickets to seal victory.
Zimbabwe has never chased down 200+ runs to win in Test history. Their record is from 1998, when they successfully chased 162 runs against Pakistan in Peshawar.
Balbirnie and Tucker played vital roles in Ireland’s strong position. Balbirnie, the Irish captain, made 66 runs off 2 fours in his fifth career fifty. Tucker also contributed with 58 runs, including 6 fours and a six.
Ireland started the day with 83/1 and played some patient cricket. However, after their 75-run partnership was broken, they couldn’t form any bigger partnerships. Despite this, smaller but effective contributions helped them set a sizeable total. Harry Tector and Paul Stirling, who got off to good starts, couldn’t convert them into big scores. Tucker, though, pushed their total to nearly 300 before he was dismissed as the last batsman.
Zimbabwe’s top bowler in the innings, Richard Ngarava, took 4 wickets for 55 runs. Trevor Guwanda and Wesley Madhevere both took 2 wickets each.
In their chase, Zimbabwe was immediately under pressure, losing three top-order batsmen for just 32 runs. Ben Curran, the younger brother of English cricketers Tom and Sam, was dismissed for just 4 runs. Opening batsman Kaitaono was bowled for 14, while Nick Walsh, who scored 90 in the first innings, failed to score double digits this time.
Brian Bennett is currently holding the fort for Zimbabwe with 15 runs, including a boundary, while nightwatchman Guwanda is yet to get off the mark after facing 12 balls.
Scores Summary:
- Ireland 1st Innings: 260
- Zimbabwe 1st Innings: 267
- Ireland 2nd Innings: 298 in 93.3 overs (Balbirnie 66, Camper 39, Tector 17, Stirling 21, Tucker 58, McBrine 16, Adair 15, McCarthy 11, Young 2, Humphreys 1*; Muzarabani 20-0-70-1, Ngarava 17.3-4-55-4, Guwanda 11-0-28-2, Nyamhurwi 8-0-21-0, Bennett 5-0-11-0, Madhevere 18-1-48-2, Campbell 14-1-47-1)
- Zimbabwe 2nd Innings: (Target 292) 38/3 in 15 overs (Kaitaono 14, Curran 4, Walsh 5, Bennett 11*, Guwanda 0*; Adair 6-2-15-1, McCarthy 5-0-14-1, Humphreys 2-0-4-1, McBrine 2-0-5-0)
