Zimbabwe defended 125 against Ireland, winning the fifth T20I by a margin of 5 runs to end the series on a high! Having already lost the series, it was all about pride for the Zimbabwean team and they held their heads high with a comfortable victory! This is the second time Zimbabwe defended a low target in this series. They defended 117 in the first T20I of the series!
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| Image Credits: ESPN Cricinfo |
Zimbabwe - 124/4 in 20 overs
Having opted to bat first, Zimbabwe failed to get going with the bat. Their top-3 collectively scored 9 runs including two ducks! Captain Craig Ervine shouldered the burden and scored most of the runs. He remained unbeaten on 67* as Zimbabwe got to 124/4 in 20 overs. Dion Myers (26 off 23) and Milton Shumba (14* off 15) contributed to this total!
Mark Adair is again the pick of Ireland bowlers with 3 wickets. He is also the leading wicket-taker in this series with 10 wickets in just 3 innings! Josh Little picked up the other wicket to fall in this Zimbabwe's innings!
Ireland - 119 all out in 20 overs
Openers failed with the bat and so did the rest of Ireland's batting line-up. Wicket-keeper Neil Rock top-scored for the hosts with 22 runs as they were bowled out for 119 runs conceding the match by 5 runs in the end! Donald Tiripano and Luke Jongwe starred with the ball for the visitors with 3 wickets each while Richard Ngarava and Wellington Masakadza accounted for a wicket each.
Even though Ireland lost the fifth and final match of the 5-match, they won the series by 3-2. This is their first bilateral T20I series against Zimbabwe!
Player of the Match:
Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine has been adjudged as the Player of the Match for his unbeaten 67* with the bat and leading his team to a close victory in this game!
Player of the Series:
Ireland opener Paul Stirling has been adjudged as the Player of the Series for being the leading run-scorer in this 5-match series with 234 runs. He is also the only player to score a century (115 not out in the third T20I) in this series!
What's next?
With this fifth T20I, the 5-match T20I series between these two teams comes to an end! Both Ireland and Zimbabwe will face off in a 3-match ODI series that kick starts on Wednesday (Sept 08).
Brief Scores: Zimbabwe -124/4 in 20 overs (Craig Ervine - 67*, Mark Adair - 3/23) defeated Ireland - 119 all out in 20 overs (Neil Rock - 22, Luke Jongwe - 3/29) by a margin of 5 runs
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