Thrashed through the covers! Fuller length pitching wide outside off, opens the full face of the bat and drills it away through the covers, no chance for the circle fielder, races on to the ropes. The fans roared the minute the ball went outside the circle. The players shake hands. Fans rejoice in the stands. Everything is occurring right now at the Harare Sports Club!
Zimbabwe vs Ireland, 2nd T20I at Harare, Zimbabwe vs Ireland, Feb 23 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary
RESULT
2nd T20I, Harare, February 23, 2025, Ireland tour of Zimbabwe
New
ZIM
Full commentary
So that concludes today's activities. Thank you for tuning in. Please join us again for the last match of the series on February 25th, under the floodlights of Harare Sports Club. Until then, this is Rashad, signing off behalf of Vairavan and Sreshth. Goodbye.
Sikandar Raza: "Suddenly, in the middle overs, I thought we sort of strangled them really well in the middle overs, and we brought the run-rate down as well. But the most impressive thing for me was how we finished off our deathovers. Our economies in the previous few tours sometimes have gone quite high as well. But today, if you look at the last five hours bar, maybe one over the rest of that was pretty good. And that's what I'm most impressed about. I thought when they had that 50 runs in the power play. I was pretty confident that this is one sort of a 150 wicket. This is not a 170 wicket. We assessed the conditions pretty quickly, and then we knew that if we could strangle him in the middle as well, they have to play catch-up cricket which would be slightly tough for them, so I thought they would touch maybe eight to ten runs below par. Even before that partnership, I'm just really happy for Tony (Munyonga) as well. He's gone back to domestic cricket. He was one of the leading run scorers in the List-A competition as well, and so I'm really, really happy for him, and for him to be awarded the Man of the Match is I think I'm a lot happier for him than he is for himself as well. And hopefully, this is the start of many more Man of the Matches to come for him. We know we can hit a long ball as well. Sometimes you need luck and we have that, but I thought Tony was a lot calmer, and he hit those gaps and hit those pockets and he ran really well. So that was a credit to those two as well."
Paul Stirling: "Probably on either side of the Innings. To be honest, I think if we break it down and see the first 10 overs of both innings, we were right on top, and then we let it slide and probably didn't finish it well enough in the first Innings, and then great knock by the Player of the Match (Munyonga) there. So, yeah, disappointing one, but again, another good one, another good series. (Pitch) Slightly different. There was a little bit of spin on offer, and we thought it might have gotten worse and worse as the game went on, but they showed clearly it didn't, and they went and mopped up the runs. He's a huge player for us (Tector). There's no doubt about that. He's a great player, and he should be. He's in a bit of nick with the bat as well. So hopefully he gets a few on Tuesday night as well. (Craig Young) He's a stalwart for us, Craig. He's building really well at the minute the plan wasn't to miss the three ODI. He's had a little bit of a niggle, so we're glad to see him back in the side.
Player of the Match Tony Munyonga: "We sort of liked to put ourselves in a position where we just needed to keep on batting and get the team over the line. Obviously, that's the end goal, but being in the process and enjoying the moment as well. I think that was the most important thing that we talked about (in the middle). I think it goes a long way (today's innings). Obviously, having come out of scoring runs in the domestic league, getting that confidence back again, it's not easy. The guys know what they're doing, and sometimes it's because I'm not scoring so many runs as well. But coming out of scoring runs and being able to get that confidence over the line to International Cricket. I think it's it's really helped me a lot. I think watching a lot of cricket and playing a lot of cricket as well. I've played about eight years of First-class cricket. I think it's helped me a lot. I've faced a lot of situations like that, so I just kept on reminding myself that I just need to keep my head down and keep on digging"
5:16 pm Zimbabwe leads the three-match series, 1-0. The home team began the innings on a high note, scoring a boundary. However, their top-order difficulties persisted as Marumani miscued the flick shot and gave away his wicket in the second over. Madhevere also edged to the slip fielder and was done for a low score. Everything was set up for a repetition of the previous T20I, with Young taking both wickets in the second over. Once more launching the comeback, Burl struck a few of boundaries and released the pressure. On the eighth over, Stirling dropped a difficult catch of Burl. Tector broke the 48-run partnership by tempting Burl to knock one over the covers, the delivery turning away and catching a feather off Burl's bat. Burl looked excellent but had to go after scoring 27 runs. Zimbabwe lost wickets in clusters, with captain Raza gifting his wicket to long off in the following over. Tector once again made a fantastic catch with his safe hands. Musekiwa and Munyonga began rebuilding the innings by playing smart cricket, rotating the strike regularly, and striking poor balls for boundaries. Craig Young returned to the bowling attack and removed Musekiwa with a slower delivery, taking his fourth wicket of the match. The Zimbabwe batsmen' boundaries were dried up thanks to some great fielding efforts, tight lines, and length from the bowlers. Tony Munyonga, however, had other intentions. He remained at the crease till the end, scoring 43 runs off 30 deliveries. Ngarava had a fantastic cameo at the end, scoring 12 runs off 7 balls. At the end of the day, Ireland fell 15-20 runs short, which was too much for their bowlers to handle. Craig Young was once again the standout bowler in the Irish camp, grabbing up four wickets. The post-match presentation will take place shortly.
Simba T: "Zimbabwe surprised me today, they snatched a win from the jaws of defeat"
trezim: "I must admit the moment Raza departed, i had written Zim off. Great to see the guys dig inn. Brilliant effort!!"
Zimbabwe won the match by 3 wickets
19.2
4
Hume to Munyonga, FOUR runs
Around the wicket
Scores Level
19.1
1
Hume to Ngarava, 1 run
Full-toss ball on the stumps, swings his bat at it and finds the toe end to mid-on, runs to the non-striker's end, cries in pain while clutching his hamstring.
2 needed from 6, Ngarava on strike, Hume to bowl the last over
end of over 1911 runs
ZIM: 136/7CRR: 7.15 • RRR: 2.00 • Need 2 runs from 6b
Richard Ngarava11 (6b 2x4)
Tony Munyonga39 (29b 4x4)
Craig Young 4-0-24-4
Graham Hume 3-1-21-0
18.6
1
Young to Ngarava, 1 run
Flatter length on the off stump, drags it down with the toe end of the bat to square leg
18.5
1
Young to Munyonga, 1 run
Length ball on the stumps, works it away through the in-field for a single, Munyonga is struggling with his calf muscles
18.4
1
Young to Ngarava, 1 run
Another bouncer delivery, drags it down with the inner part of the bat to deep mid wicket, Ngarava speaks briefly with the umpire about the bouncer deliveries.
18.3
4
Young to Ngarava, FOUR runs
Ngarava, you beauty! Short pitched ball on the leg stump line, moves back and swivel pulls it away to widish deep backward square leg, two fielders converging. The deep backward square leg fielder gets to it first, sends in the dive, but his knee becomes trapped in the outfield and fails to keep the ball in play.
18.2
•
Young to Ngarava, no run
Well directed bouncer on the stumps, attempted to pull it away over mid wicket, failed to connect, brushes off the arms
18.1
4
Young to Ngarava, FOUR runs
Wild swing of the bat and under-edges past the keeper! Length ball wide outside off, reaches for it and full swing of the bat, thick inside edge and sneaks past Tucker behind the stumps!
13 runs needed from 12 balls, Craig Young to bowl the penultimate over, seeking for the fifer
end of over 1813 runs
ZIM: 125/7CRR: 6.94 • RRR: 6.50 • Need 13 runs from 12b
Tony Munyonga38 (28b 4x4)
Richard Ngarava1 (1b)
Graham Hume 3-1-21-0
Josh Little 4-0-34-1
17.6
•
Hume to Munyonga, no run
Full and wide outside off, moves towards the line of the ball and dabs it gently to the covers
17.5
2
Hume to Munyonga, 2 runs
Full and overpitched on the stumps, forces it away to deep backward square leg for a couple, chance of a run out at the non-striker's end, Ngarava struggled to return to the non-striker's end, but just managed to run back home safely!
Third man goes back, fine leg comes inside the circle
17.4
4
Hume to Munyonga, FOUR runs
Squeezed through gully region! Full-toss ball on the leg stump, makes room outside leg, opens the full face of the bat and strikes with the outside part of the bat, guides it through the vacant gully area past the short third man fielder!
17.4
1w
Hume to Munyonga, 1 wide
Yorker ball down the leg-side past the boot of Munyonga
17.3
4
Hume to Munyonga, FOUR runs
Edged and over the wicketkeeper! Slower delivery on a length with extra bounce around off, charges forward and swings his bat at it, thick outside edge and goes past the wicketkeeper for a boundary
17.2
1
Hume to Ngarava, 1 run
Fuller length in the block-hole, bends down and shovels it away to backward point
17.1
1
Hume to Munyonga, 1 run
Hard line and length ball drills it away to deep extra cover area
end of over 175 runs • 1 wicket
ZIM: 112/7CRR: 6.58 • RRR: 8.66 • Need 26 runs from 18b
Tony Munyonga27 (23b 2x4)
Josh Little 4-0-34-1
Curtis Campher 3-0-22-0
16.6
W
Little to Masakadza, OUT
Delany dropped it on his first attempt, juggled it a few times, then nearly dropped it completely before hitting the tip of his boot and holding on at the last second! Length ball width on offer outside off, Masakadza decides to go big, swings his bat at it and hits it in the air to mid-off. It should have been a simple catch for the fielder. But he made an impressive spectacle out of it!
Wellington Masakadza c Delany b Little 6 (9b 0x4 0x6 14m) SR: 66.66
16.5
1
Little to Munyonga, 1 run
Length ball on the stumps, squeezed away through the off-side for a single
16.4
2
Little to Munyonga, 2 runs
Back of a length ball on the stump, makes room outside leg and swats it through the covers, calls for the second and goes for it, Masakadza is a bit slow responding to the call, direct hit at the non-striker's end would have been the end of his innings
16.3
1
Little to Masakadza, 1 run
Length ball wide outside off, throws his bat at it and inside edged past the stumps to short fine leg
Fine leg comes inside the circle
16.2
1
Little to Munyonga, 1 run
Back of a length ball outside off, punches off the back foot aerially past backward point
16.1
•
Little to Munyonga, no run
Starts the over with a short pitched ball on the stumps, wild swing of the bat, there was a sound as the ball passes the bat, probably brushing off the shoulder, massive appeal turned down by the umpire!
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