Zimbabwe (214-7, 37 overs) (Ryan Burl 59, Sikandar Raza 43; Mark Adair 2-40) beat Ireland (288-4, 50 overs) (Andrew Balbirnie 121, Harry Tector 101; Victor Nyauchi 2-65) by three wickets on the Duckworth-Lewis method.
Graham Hume deserved better.
Sending down the final over of a rain affected One Day International, the Ireland bowler did his job on four out of six deliveries. Going to a yorker ploy at the death, more often than not he found the blockhole.
The two occasions he didn’t? Brad Evans slogged one into the stand and Clive Madande - needing four to win off the last ball - launched a full toss into the gap at mid wicket. After losing their set pair of Sikanda Raza and Ryan Burl, Zimbabwe looked to be heading to a narrow defeat. Instead, they scored 13 off the final over to spark delirious scenes of celebration in Harare.
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The result came after a lengthy rain delay during the Zimbabwe chase that saw the game reduced to 37 overs. Needing an adjusted target of 39 off 22 balls after the break - a tricky, not impossible task - Raza skied Mark Adair into the deep, Curtis Campher taking the catch to put Ireland firmly into the ascendancy.
Hume and Josh Little bowled the following two overs, costing 24 runs as Burl looked to have swung the game back to the visitors. His run out in the final over - Campher again heavily involved in the field - put Ireland back on top only for Hume to miss his length just the twice. Zimbabwe’s tail punished him.
The thrilling finish came after a first innings that saw centuries for the Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie and Harry Tector, both enjoying the return to the longer format as Ireland posted 288 in their 50 overs.
Ireland were asked to bat first at the toss, meaning they had the worst of the batting conditions given the early morning ball movement. Paul Stirling and Stephen Doheny - on ODI debut - departed cheaply, but Tector and Balbirnie’s mammoth partnership of 212 set up Ireland’s innings nearly as well as they could have wanted.
Balbirnie drove well off pace while Tector pulled out the reverse-sweep off spin as the scoring rate gradually increased. The only question that remained was did they start going through the gears early enough to get a winning score?
The partnership only ended when Balbirnie took a nasty blow, edging an Evans beamer into his face, the grill of his helmet appearing to save him from the worst of the damage. The captain retired hurt and did not come back out in the field but was seen walking around the changing room after the match.
Tector brought up his third ODI century in the 50th over, receiving support from George Dockrell and Lorcan Tucker at the death. He has now passed 50 on eight occasions in his last 10 ODIs.
With the ball, Ireland started well as Adair induced Wessly Madhevere to nick one to gully, while Hume out-thought Innocent Kaia as he lured him into skying a short ball with the field set for that trap. Craig Ervine threatened to take the game away before Tector took a good return catch off his own bowling.
That brought Raza and Burl together, who took a liking to spin as they put on 76 for the fifth wicket. Ireland needed to break the partnership, which they did after the rain delay, only for Burl and the bowlers to take things home in the dramatic finish.
