Ireland beat Zimbabwe XI in exciting finish

In the final round of the Emerging Nations Tournament, Ireland completed a narrow victory over the hosts in an exciting finish. A powerful fighting 61 by Bryan Strang almost enabled Zimbabwe to pull of an unexpected victory when all seemed lost, while Ireland themselves had had to fight back after losing their first three wickets for 35 runs.

Ireland 231/7; Zimbabwe A 219. Ireland won by 12 runs.

As usual, Zimbabwe A put the opposition in to bat on winning the toss. Their bowlers did not appear to get undue help from the pitch, but they broke through quickly. A full toss from Everton Matambanadzo took Jason Molins (6) by surprise, going right through him to hit his stumps, with the score on 11. Gordon Cooke (8) and Peter Davy (16) took the score to 35, Davy pulling Matambanadzo for six over square leg, when a double bowling change by Gavin Rennie brought instant results. With his first ball left-arm spinner Ray Price had Davy caught by Greg Lamb at slip, and at the other end David Mutendera's second ball found Cooke trying to turn a full-length delivery to midwicket and losing his off stump.

Angus Dunlop fought back for Ireland with aggression, pulling and driving Mutendera for a six and three fours in an over. Rennie quickly brought himself on, and the accuracy of the spinners Rennie, Price and Dan Peacock quietened the Irish captain somewhat. He found a good partner in the stylish left-hander Ed Joyce, who played a few classic drives with superb timing, and once drove Rennie straight for six. Joyce played a match for Middlesex last season and averaged 47 in six matches for their second eleven. The pair added 83 in 99 balls before Dunlop (42) lofted Rennie into the hands of Bryan Strang at long-on. Ireland were now 118 for four.

Joyce ran to his fifty, and Peter Gillespie proved another most capable partner, keeping the score jogging along at about four an over, helped by a few uncharacteristic misfields. Both, however, threw their wickets away unnecessarily as they approached the 40-over mark, trying to speed up. Joyce (57) moved down the pitch to Matambanadzo and only succeeded in skying a catch to Trevor Gripper at midwicket, and then Gillespie (22) did the same to Mutendera, but edged a catch to the keeper. The score was 178 for six.

Ireland had the right man for the situation in Derek Heasley, who pulled and drove with great power. The unfortunate Mutendera, unable to control his line and length well enough, suffered most, as Heasley powered to 31 off 18 balls, including 3 sixes and 2 fours, before he was deceived by a slower ball from Strang, swinging across the line to have his middle stump extracted. Kyle McCallam (26 not out) and Allan Rutherford (4 not out) kept the runs coming, and their team finished on 231 for seven, a most useful total. The bowlers for the most part conceded around four runs an over, the difference being two overs from Mutendera, one to Dunlop and one to Heasley, that cost 34 runs altogether.

Doug Marillier and Alester Maregwede, opening for Zimbabwe A, began rather hesitantly against some erratic pace bowling, but were just beginning to look more settled when Marillier (3) ill-advisedly moved down the pitch to drive Cooke. He failed to get to the pitch of the ball and the resultant thick outside edge was caught at third man by Heasley. Trevor Gripper settled in quickly, and pulled two fours in an over from John Davy, the first off a no-ball. He was always ready to pull the short ball, and the two batted fluently at a rate in excess of four an over. Gripper (24) fell with the total on 61, though, splicing an attempted chip over midwicket off McCallam and being caught by Joyce, the fielder there.

Gavin Rennie came in and a sound partnership appeared to be in the making, when the turning point of the match took place. Rennie played a ball out on the leg side, and Maregwede (38), whose call it was not, came charging down the pitch, and was quite unable to get back as wicket-keeper Rutherford returned the ball to the bowler. It was a disappointing end to a good innings, and his dismissal was to prove crucial.

In the next over Rennie fell for 19, checking a drive against Dwyer and giving an easy catch to Dunlop at short midwicket. Dan Peacock scored a single off his first ball and was caught at the wicket, prodding indeterminately at McCallam, off his second. In 13 balls three wickets had fallen for 4 runs, to make the score 99 for five and the Irish right on top.

Don Campbell lived dangerously at times, but it was Greg Lamb who fell first, for 9, skying a drive off the inside edge to be caught by John Davy running round from mid-on off Dwyer. When Campbell fell to the sucker punch, putting a full toss from Dwyer down the throat of Cooke at deep midwicket, Zimbabwe A were 131 for seven. The Irish spinners had done the trick, with generous co-operation from the home batsmen - McCallam two wickets and Dwyer three. Their pace bowling, according to the Irish, was not of the same quality, and so it turned out, but it proved to be enough. Only just. Medium-pacer Cooke bowled David Mutendera for 6, making the score 142 for eight, but then came trouble.

Bryan Strang, partnered by Raymond Price, settled in, and the required scoring rate rose almost to ten an over. Then he began to attack. Gillespie earned his special attention, as he hit him for a six over extra cover and a massive blow over the wide long-on boundary. Price played his part in support, and both enjoyed a little luck, but Strang kept finding the boundary between the fielders, and with two overs left 15 runs were needed.

Cook returned, and with his second ball yorked Strang, swinging across the line. Strang had scored a superb 61 off 65 balls, with 2 sixes and 6 fours. 15 off 10 balls was always likely to be too much for the last two batsmen, and only a single from Matambanadzo came off the rest of the over. Matambanadzo swung mightily at Davy, bowling the last over, sending up a huge skyer towards point which the keeper dropped, and they took a single.

Price failed to score off the next ball, and off the third he swung down the leg side, the ball bounced up and the wicket-keeper confidently claimed a catch. It was one of the worst decisions for an umpire to have to make, to decide whether the ball hit glove as well as pad, and they decided to confer. But Price, who is a practising Christian, confirmed that he had hit it and walked slowly off in disappointment, a gesture that was greatly appreciated by the Irish. They had won by 12 runs with three balls to spare, their second victory of the tournament.