Ireland defeated Zimbabwe in the third T20I of the 5-match series by a margin of 40 runs to take a lead of 2-1 in the series. For Zimbabwe to win the series, they need to win both the remaining games while Ireland needs just a win to take the trophy!
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| Paul Stirling acknowledging the crowd after his maiden T20I century (Image Credits: Sky Sports) |
Ireland - 178/2 in 20 overs
After being sent into bat first, Ireland rode on the performance of Paul Stirling who remained unbeaten and went on to score his maiden century (115* off 75 balls; 8 fours, 8 sixes) in this format. Stirling got ample support from Andy Balbirnie (31 off 24) and Shane Getkate (19* off 11) at the other end to take Ireland to a good total of 178/2 in 20 overs.
Zimbabwean main bowlers - Wellington Masakadza, Tendai Chatara, Richard Ngarava - were ineffective in this match as they failed to pick up even a single wicket between them! Luke Jongwe and Ryan Burl got a wicket apiece of the two wickets to fall in this Ireland's innings.
Zimbabwe - 138 all out in 18.2 overs
Chasing a target of 179 to win, Zimbabwe fumbled with the bat as expected! Their captain Craig Ervine top-scored for them with 33 runs while Ryan Burl scored 26 runs as they were bowled out for 138 runs in 18.2 overs conceding the match to home team Ireland by 40 runs!
Ireland bowler Mark Adair bagged 3 wickets while Josh Little, Shane Getkate, Ben White accounted for 2 wickets each. Paul Stirling, with the confidence of his maiden T20I century, opened the bowling for Ireland but gave away 14 runs and did not bowl another over in this innings!
Player of the Match:
Ireland opener Paul Stirling has been adjudged as the Player of the Match for his superb batting up the order that set the tone for the home team to win this match. He remained unbeaten on 115* becoming only the 2nd Ireland men's player after Kevin O'Brien to score a century in T20Is.
What's next?
The home team Ireland are currently leading the 5-match series by 2-1. The fourth T20I will be played at the same venue, Bready, on Thursday (Sept 02). The play starts at 07:30 pm IST.
Brief Scores: Ireland - 178/2 in 20 overs (Paul Stirling - 115*, Ryan Burl - 1/30) defeated Zimbabwe - 138 all out in 18.1 overs (Craig Ervine - 33, Mark Adair - 3/11) by a margin of 40 runs
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