IRELAND HELD their nerve in a tense finale to claim the third One-Day International against Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club yesterday which saw them climb back above the African country to 10th spot in the world rankings.
In the end the victory margin was 20 runs after a 60-run final-wicket stand between Shingirai Masakadze and Ian Nicolson was ended when Kevin O’Brien claimed his third leg-before decision of the day to remove Nicolson with 14 balls remaining to give him figures of three for 27.
Left-arm spinner George Dockrell also proved key, taking three for 41 for a total of seven wickets in the series, an impressive return for the 18-year-old after a lean period with the ball in recent times.
John Mooney was the other hero on the day for Ireland, the North County all-rounder taking two wickets adding to his earlier half-century to take the man of the match honours.
Mooney’s runs proved vital after Ireland’s top order again proved brittle after skipper William Porterfield lost the toss for a third-straight time in the series.
Opening bowler Ed Rainsford again proved a menace, taking the wickets of Paul Stirling, Andre Botha and Niall O’Brien to leave Ireland on 40 for three on his way to a five-wicket haul.
Porterfield and Kevin O’Brien (34) put on 56 for the fourth wicket, but when the captain was run out Ireland were struggling on 128 for six.
That they eventually closed on 244, their highest score of the series, was down to a fine stand of 66 between Andrew White (41) and Mooney, who then worked the strike well with the tailenders until he was run out for 55 to end the innings with two balls remaining.
After the game Porterfield admitted it was a matter of pride that helped Ireland finish the tour on a high and reclaim a place in the top 10.
“We didn’t want to leave here losing 3-0. We still have pride pulling on an Irish jersey and we had a lot to prove because we felt we let ourselves down in the first two games,” he admitted.
“We knew we had to win to stay 10th but we wanted the win for ourselves and the rankings will look after themselves.”
SCOREBOARD
IRELAND
W Porterfield run out 46
P Stirling c Ervine b Rainsford 13
A Botha lbw b Rainsford 0
N O’Brien c Utseya b Rainsford 5
K O’Brien b Cremer 34
G Wilson cb Utseya 10
A White b Rainsford 41
J Mooney run out 55
T Johnston c Williams b Nicolson 16
A van der Merwe lbw b Rainsford 0
G Dockrell not out 6
Extras (lb 5 nb2 w11) 18
Total (all out, 49.4 ovs) 244
Fall of wickets: 1-33, 2-34, 3-40, 4-96, 5-115, 6-128, 7-194, 8-211, 9-214.
Bowling: E Rainsford 9-1-36-5; I Nicolson 5-0-44-1; S Masakadza 5.4-0-52-0; H Masakadza 3-1-7-0; P Utseya 10-0-26-1; G Cremer 10-2-46-1; S Williams 4-0-18-0; B Taylor 3-0-10-0.
ZIMBABWE
H Masakadza lbw b K O’Brien 0
B Taylor lbw b K O’Brien 3
S Williams c Dockrell b Van der Merwe 74
T Taibu b Mooney 22
C Ervine c Johnston b Dockrell 14
E Chigumbura c N O’Brien b Mooney 22
P Utseya c N O’Brien b Botha 14
G Cremer lbw b Dockrell 0
S Masakadza not out 45
E Rainsford c Botha b Dockrell 6
I Nicolson lbw b K O’Brien 14
Extras (b4 lb2 nb1 w3) 10
Total (all out, 47.4 ovs) 224
Fall of Wickets: 1-0, 2-3, 3-73, 4-116, 5-117, 6-153, 7-157, 8-157, 9-164.
Bowling: K O’Brien 6.4-0-27-3; T Johnston 6-0-31-0; A Botha 8-0-28-1; J Mooney 7-0-27-2; A van der Merwe 8-0-55-1; G Dockrell 10-0-41-3; P Stirling 2-0-9-0.
Ireland won by 20 runs.
Zimbabwe win the series 2-1.
