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Eddie Chikamhi

Senior Sports Reporter

LARGE crowds are expected to fill up the Harare Sports Club again tomorrow as the Zimbabwe national cricket team look to bag another series in the enduring cricket rivalries with Ireland.

The rain-interrupted match could have gone either way but Zimbabwe sneaked to a three-wicket win with the last ball of the game in a dramatic finish to the first game of the three-match ODI contest on Wednesday.

Despite the threat of the rains and the game being played midweek, the Chevrons, who have won a loyal fan base at home and abroad due to their tenacious fighting spirit and entertaining cricket, still managed to pull a decent crowd. The team has given the enduring Zimbabwean sports fans something to always look forward to.

And the fans that braved the rains that resulted in an hour-long delay on Wednesday were treated to some highly entertaining stuff as the Chevrons fought back late on and turned around the script with some power hits late on.

International cricket matches have been attracting good crowds in the last few years and a bigger and more electric atmosphere was witnessed during the T20I series which ended last Sunday, with Zimbabwe claiming a 2-1 win. The Harare Sports Club was almost full to capacity, with an estimated 10 000 fans turning up for the decisive encounter.

The numbers reduced a bit on Wednesday, being a midweek game.

Chevrons captain Craig Ervine said the cricket rivalries between Zimbabwe and Ireland keep getting better and more exciting by each outing.

Zimbabwe and Ireland have faced off in 21 ODIs since 2007. Most of the games have been close contests and Wednesday’s win gave the home team a slight 8-7 advantage in head-to-head statistics.

Playing his second ODI, Clive Madande struck a match-winning boundary as Zimbabwe overcame a host of setbacks in a match that was decided via the Duckworth-Lewis and Stern method following the rain interruptions.

The wicketkeeper/batsman settled matters between the close rivals in a dramatic final over after the game had been reduced to 37 overs.

Ireland had looked on course to a possible win after they dominated the home team earlier on with a massive 228/4 in their 50 overs.

This was their highest score against Zimbabwe in ODI cricket, thanks to well-struck centuries from skipper Andrew Balbirnie (121) and Harry Tector (101*).

But then the rain, which had caused a brief stoppage when Ireland were batting in the morning, returned much heavier late in the afternoon, causing the match to be reduced to 37 overs.

“It seems like every time that we play Ireland it’s a close game,” said Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine

“I thought the wicket was a little bit sticky earlier on and Balbirnie and Tector batted extremely well to give them that start of 288/4.”

Ervine, however, felt the Chevrons still needed to pull up their socks. Zimbabwe’s bowling and fielding have been their major strength in recent outings.

But on Wednesday they were put to the test by the Irish. After pinning the visitors back at 28/2 during the powerplay overs, they struggled to break a record third wicket partnership between Ireland skipper Balbirnie and Tector.

Ervine, however, took the shortcomings as a lesson ahead of the second ODI at Harare Sports Club tomorrow.

“We just dropped our energies on the field and made a few little mistakes. There were some half chances that we would need to take in the next game,” he said.

Zimbabwe also had some nervy moments with the bat. Their top order has been problematic for some time. Young batsman Wessly Madhevere is still to find his footing at the top and fellow opener Innocent Kaia needs to start converting into big scores.

Gary Ballance made a welcome debut but did not get quite the score he would be proud of after he made 23 from 28 balls, batting at number four.

Zimbabwe’s middle order is currently their strength. Skipper Ervine scored 38 runs from 43 balls but the 76-runs partnership between Sikandar Raza (43 from 45) and Man of the Match Ryan Burl (59 from 41) was key in Zimbabwe’s chase.

Burl has of late turned himself into the talisman of the team, in the absence of Raza. The 28-year-old has now bagged three Man of the Match awards in four white ball games played so far in this tour. He was named Man of the Series for his starring role during the T20I series.

“It’s obviously one of those games where we were really happy to go over the line considering they had two guys with two centuries,” said Burl.

“So, it was obviously a tough pill for them to swallow and credit to our guys, I am very happy.”

The result did not go down well with the visitors, who apparently had done everything they could to position themselves for a win.

They welcomed back veteran batsman Paul Stirling, Lorcan Tucker and fast bowler Josh Little from franchise cricket but victory evaded them in the most disappointing way following the dramatic last two overs, in which Zimbabwe plundered the required 28 runs after a lengthy rain-induced break.

“I think we have always come here and have had great games of cricket,” said Stirling.

“This was another one great spectacle and another good crowd turnout at Harare Sports Club. Hopefully they got their money’s worth.

“Usually when we come here at Harare (Sports Club), it’s tough in the morning. We are usually put in to bat first if we lose the toss.

“So we spoke about it and we had wanted to try and build on a good start and save wickets in hand. We managed to do exactly what we spoke about previously and we got a good score, one that we thought would be above par but it couldn’t be.

“Credit to the Zimbabwe players. Coming back after the rain break is not always easy especially when the run rate goes 10-11 runs an over. So credit to them, they played a great game and a brilliant chase,” said Stirling.

The second ODI promises to be another exciting encounter as Zimbabwe look to seal the series while Ireland are desperate to keep the contest alive.