Zimbabwe look to finish T20I leg of Ireland tour on a high

Overview

Ireland vs Zimbabwe, fifth T20I
Bready, Derry
4 September, 3 PM local

After winning the first game, Zimbabwe have failed to replicate their performances in the rest of the series. As a result, they find themselves 3-1 down going into the final match. Captain Craig Ervine has already hinted at changes in the post-match presentation of the fourth T20I and will be hoping they have a positive effect on the team.

Zimbabwe still have a long tour ahead of them as they will face Ireland in ODIs before they travel to Scotland for three T20Is. A win in the final T20I will set them nicely for the rest of the games.

Ireland, meanwhile, will be pleased with their performances so close to the ICC Men's T20 World Cup. After losing a low-scoring thriller in the series opener, they have made a strong comeback and have won three games on the trot to seal the series.

Andrew Balbirnie has not been shy to experiment with the team so far. Given this will be Ireland's last T20I before the World Cup, the skipper might be looking to ring in a couple of changes for the final match.

Remember the last time

Ireland sealed the series with a thumping 64-run win over Zimbabwe in the fourth T20I at Bready.

Put in to bat first by Zimbabwe, Ireland's top three: Paul Stirling, Kevin O'Brien and Andrew Balbirnie all made vital contributions and laid the foundation for a massive score. However, the visitors managed to pull things back to restrict Ireland to 174/4 in 20 overs.

In response, Zimbabwe got off to a poor start, losing four wickets in the Powerplay, with Mark Adair accounting for three of those. Like the third T20I, Craig Ervine was once again the only Zimbabwe batter to put up a fight but found no support from the rest of the line-up.

In the end, Zimbabwe only managed to get to 110/9 in 20 overs as Ireland took an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series.

What they said:

Andrew Balbirnie (Ireland captain): "We want a squad of 15 who can all play on any given day. We also need to see what the other guys can do. Hopefully, come the World Cup, we can put in the performances. It was a great atmosphere here like yesterday. We have won the series - that is great - but with the one-day games around the corner, we want some momentum."

Craig Ervine (Zimbabwe captain):"We never really got going. It is something we need to sort out. Every game is important - obviously the series is gone - and we want to try different combinations, and Saturday allows us to do that."