Ireland eye quick turnaround against Zimbabwe in second T20I

Overview

Ireland vs Zimbabwe, second T20I
Clontarf Cricket Club, Dublin, Ireland
August 29, 12:00 PM local

Zimbabwe will take great heart from winning a close game on Friday, especially after the Bangladesh series where they failed to seize their chances during crucial junctures in the white-ball leg. They will also be delighted with Regis Chakabva, who has been in ominous touch and carried his form into the series with a Player of the Match-winning performance in the first T20I.

A win in the second T20I will take Zimbabwe within touching distance of a bilateral series win, a feat they haven't achieved since 2010.

Meanwhile, Ireland will be ruing the fact that they let the game slip after the openers got off to a steady start. The middle order crumbled under pressure, something that was witnessed even during their 3-0 loss in the T20I series against South Africa.

Simi Singh has been one of the few bright spots for Ireland, and he shined once again with both bat and ball. While his form will be crucial to the hosts' chances of making a comeback in the series, captain Balbirnie will be hoping for a few of his experienced men to put their hands up as well.

Though winning the series will be of utmost importance to both the teams, they will also want to use these matches as an opportunity to test their readiness for important tournaments coming up – the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2021 for Ireland, and the Qualifiers for the 2022 edition of the tournament for Zimbabwe.

Remember the last time

Zimbabwe emerged victorious by three runs in a low-scoring thriller against Ireland in the first T20I of the series.

Put in to bat, Zimbabwe could only manage 117/7 in 20 overs. Regis Chakabva was the only player to find some sort of rhythm against the Irish bowlers, missing out on a well-deserved half-century by just three runs. Bar Curtis Campher and Shane Getkate, all the bowlers bowled economical spells and went at under six runs per over to restrict Zimbabwe to a modest total.

Openers Paul Stirling and Kevin O'Brien got Ireland off to a good start and were 59/2 at the halfway stage. It was Ryan Burl's two wickets in two balls in the 11th over that turned the game around, and some tight bowling thereafter saw Ireland at 89/7 at the end of 16 overs.

Simi Singh almost pulled off a rescue act and brought it down to six runs in the last over. Ngarava was tasked with the responsibility of bowling the last over and he gave away just three runs to help Zimbabwe take the 1-0 lead in the series.

What they said

Craig Ervine (Zimbabwe captain):"The wicket was tricky. Stayed low, some. So difficult to find your timing. That was part of the reason why we felt we may have had the runs on the board. Chakabva held the innings well, a contribution like that got us across the line. We have a young bunch of guys and the energy comes with that."

Andrew Balbirnie (Ireland captain):"Very disappointed. Not good enough with the bat. Started tentatively and got into a run a ball situation. We back ourselves to get that sort of total but we never got a grip of it. Have to reassess and go again on Sunday. It's a long series, hopefully, we can come back on Sunday with different plans."