Watch cricket video highlights of Zimbabwe tour of Ireland 2024 Only Test day 2 between Ireland vs Zimbabwe. Venue of the match will be Belfast.
In his debut Test match against his previous team and birthplace of Zimbabwe, Peter Moor dominated and recorded the best score for an Ireland opener. After bringing the deficit within 100 with eight wickets remaining in the afternoon, the hosts, like the visitors on the first day, then spectacularly imploded to lose the lead. However, after two innings were played in Belfast, they had a more-than-useful 40-run advantage thanks to an improbable 47-run partnership between debutant Matthew Humphreys and Andy McBrine at the tenth wicket.
Ireland’s victory was largely due to Zimbabwe’s inconsistent bowling and fielding behind the wickets. Zimbabwe conceded the most additional runs in Test cricket history, 59, of which came via byes. Test cricket has been played for 137 years. But with to the efforts of Tanaka Chivanga (3 for 39) and Blessing Muzarabani (3 for 59), Ireland was prevented from taking the bat away. Like the preceding morning, the day had begun with hitters controlling the action. Moor batted at great speed with the help of opener Andrew Balbirnie, who managed just 19 runs.
In addition to Moor scoring his maiden Ireland fifty and his sixth Test century overall, they jointly created a new record for the greatest opening partnership in Ireland, at 71. His run-scoring square on both sides of the field and none down the ground was the high point of his inning. In a morning session of 25 overs, Ireland reached 115 for 2 thanks to his strokes, which helped them roll at 4.6 an over. Playing in just his second Test, Chivanga was the most reliable Zimbabwean bowler in the early going. He was well rewarded for his constant groupings on a fair length, or slightly fuller.
In the sixteenth over, he got his second ball of the day when Balbirnie chipped a flick to square leg. In the 22nd over, he added another when Curtis Campher was squared up by his delivery, which found the outside edge. The morning session wasn’t a total loss for Zimbabwe thanks to the two dismissals. Nevertheless, under overcast conditions after noon, the tide shifted in Zimbabwe’s favor. For a third wicket, Chivanga trapped Harry Tector (4) leg before wicket. Paul Stirling, who was introduced at number five, gloved a short ball to gully for a catch in the same over.
However, Stirling made it through thanks to a front-foot no-ball, and he and Moor decided to play attritional cricket to prevent any further collapse. Out of the fifty runs the two added, just thirty were scored off hits and twenty were due to wides and byes. When Muzarabani broke through the Ireland middle order with two wickets in two balls and forced additional dismissals, their wall-standing came to an end. In the 36th over, Muzarabani’s short ball was first tickled to the keeper by Moor, who eventually left for 79. With a full ball angling to beat him on the flick, Lorcan Tucker was out leg before wicket for a duck on the next delivery.
After dismissing Mark Adair, left-arm spinner Sean Williams removed Stirling (22), who had edged a ball spinning away to first slip. Ireland quickly went from 163 for 3 to 189 for 7, and when Tendai Chatara removed Barry McCarthy off the final ball before tea, the score quickly reached 200 for 8. At the beginning of the last session, Muzarabani added a third to put Zimbabwe within one wicket of securing a first-innings lead. However, following another rain delay, the McBrine-Humphreys duo counterattacked, smashing 47 in 44 balls.
Clive Madande, the Zimbabwean wicketkeeper making his debut, had a difficult day. Balbirnie followed him throughout the day when he dropped it for the first time in the morning. The seamers’ inconsistent line, particularly when spraying the ball down the leg side or creating a late swing after leaving the batters, made Madande have to jump in two different places to avert certain mishaps. Occasionally, he achieved victory, but frequently, the ball overcame him.
Ultimately, the extras were second on Ireland’s scorecard in terms of runs scored. The proportion of byes given up was also the greatest for any team’s run total (minimum 200 runs). If Zimbabwe’s performance in that area had been stronger, they may have had complete control over the match. Rather, by stumps, they were behind by 28, courtesy of their openers, who chipped in with another 12 late in the evening on the wet second day.
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