Irish cricket team in Zimbabwe in 2023–24

Irish cricket team in Zimbabwe in 2023–24
	Zimbabwe	Ireland
Dates	7 – 17 December 2023
Captains	Sikandar Raza[n 1]	Paul Stirling
One Day International series
Results	Ireland won the 3-match series 2–0
Most runs	Joylord Gumbie (105)	Curtis Campher (106)
Most wickets	Brandon Mavuta (3)	Josh Little (7)
Player of the series	Curtis Campher (Ire)
Twenty20 International series
Results	Ireland won the 3-match series 2–1
Most runs	Clive Madande (91)	Harry Tector (126)
Most wickets	Richard Ngarava (5)	Craig Young (5)
Player of the series	Harry Tector (Ire)

The Ireland cricket team toured Zimbabwe in December 2023 to play three One Day International (ODI) and three Twenty20 International (T20I) matches.^[1][2][3] The T20I series formed part of Ireland's preparation for the 2024 ICC Men's T20 World Cup tournament.^[4]

The first T20I was the first international match to be played under flood lights in Zimbabwe.^[5][6] Ireland won the T20I series 2–1 to seal their first away T20I series win against a Full Member team.^[7]

Ireland won the ODI series by 2–0, after first match was washed out by rain.^[8] It was Ireland's first men's ODI series victory in Zimbabwe.^[9][10]

Squads

ODIs		T20Is
Zimbabwe[11]	Ireland[12]	Zimbabwe[13]	Ireland[14]
Sikandar Raza (c) Faraz Akram Ryan Burl Tanaka Chivanga Joylord Gumbie Luke Jongwe Innocent Kaia Takudzwanashe Kaitano Tinashe Kamunhukamwe Clive Madande Wellington Masakadza Brandon Mavuta Tony Munyonga Blessing Muzarabani Richard Ngarava Milton Shumba	Paul Stirling (c) Mark Adair Andrew Balbirnie Curtis Campher George Dockrell Josh Little Graham Hume Andy McBrine Barry McCarthy Neil Rock (wk) Harry Tector Lorcan Tucker (wk) Theo van Woerkom Craig Young	Sikandar Raza (c) Brian Bennett Ryan Burl Craig Ervine Trevor Gwandu Luke Jongwe Tinashe Kamunhukamwe Clive Madande (wk) Wesley Madhevere Tadiwanashe Marumani Wellington Masakadza Brandon Mavuta Carl Mumba Tony Munyonga Blessing Muzarabani Richard Ngarava Sean Williams	Paul Stirling (c) Mark Adair Ross Adair Andrew Balbirnie Curtis Campher Gareth Delany George Dockrell Josh Little Graham Hume Barry McCarthy Neil Rock (wk) Harry Tector Lorcan Tucker (wk) Theo van Woerkom Craig Young

• Injured Craig Ervine was ruled out of T20I series, with Tinashe Kamunhukamwe replaced him in Zimbabwe's squad.^[15]
• Sean Williams captained Zimbabwe for the second T20I,^[16] after Sikandar Raza was banned for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct.^[17]
• Ryan Burl captained Zimbabwe for the third T20I, after Sean Williams was ruled injured for the third T20I.^[18]

T20I series

1st T20I

7 December 2023 18:30 (N) Scorecard

Ireland  147/8 (20 overs)	v	Zimbabwe 148/9 (20 overs)
Andrew Balbirnie 32 (25) Sikandar Raza 3/28 (4 overs)		Sikander Raza 65 (42) Josh Little 2/17 (4 overs)

Zimbabwe won by 1 wicket Harare Sports Club, Harare Umpires: Iknow Chabi (Zim) and Forster Mutizwa (Zim) Player of the match: Sikandar Raza (Zim)

• Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field.
• Brian Bennett and Trevor Gwandu (Zim) both made their T20I debuts.
• Mark Adair became the first male cricketer from Ireland to take 100 wickets in T20Is.^[19]

2nd T20I

9 December 2023 13:00 Scorecard

Zimbabwe  165/5 (20 overs)	v	Ireland 166/6 (19.4 overs)
Clive Madande 44* (39) Mark Adair 2/28 (4 overs)		Harry Tector 48 (38) Richard Ngarava 2/33 (4 overs)

Ireland won by 4 wickets Harare Sports Club, Harare Umpires: Iknow Chabi (Zim) and Langton Rusere (Zim) Player of the match: Harry Tector (Ire)

• Ireland won the toss and elected to field.
• Theo van Woerkom (Ire) made his T20I debut.

3rd T20I

10 December 2023 13:00 Scorecard

Zimbabwe  140/6 (20 overs)	v	Ireland 141/4 (18.4 overs)
Ryan Burl 36 (28) Gareth Delany 2/8 (2 overs)		Harry Tector 54* (45) Blessing Muzarabani 1/21 (4 overs)

Ireland won by 6 wickets Harare Sports Club, Harare Umpires: Christopher Phiri (Zim) and Langton Rusere (Zim) Player of the match: George Dockrell (Ire)

• Ireland won the toss and elected to field.

ODI series

1st ODI

13 December 2023 09:15 Scorecard

Zimbabwe  121/6 (25.3 overs)	v	Ireland
Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 28 (15) Graham Hume 2/7 (4.3 overs)

No result Harare Sports Club, Harare Umpires: Iknow Chabi (Zim) and Adrian Holdstock (SA)

• Ireland won the toss and elected to field.
• Rain during Zimbabwe's innings prevented any further play.

2nd ODI

15 December 2023 09:15 Scorecard

Zimbabwe  166 (42.5 overs)	v	Ireland 170/6 (40.1 overs)
Wellington Masakadza 40 (47) Josh Little 6/36 (10 overs)		Curtis Campher 66 (71) Blessing Muzarabani 2/23 (10 overs)

Ireland won by 4 wickets Harare Sports Club, Harare Umpires: Adrian Holdstock (SA) and Forster Mutizwa (Zim) Player of the match: Josh Little (Ire)

• Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat.
• Josh Little recorded best bowling figure for Ireland in ODIs (6/36).^[20]
• Tony Munyonga replaced Ryan Burl as concussion substitute for Zimbabwe.^[21]

3rd ODI

17 December 2023 09:15 Scorecard

Zimbabwe  197 (40 overs)	v	Ireland 204/3 (37.5 overs)
Joylord Gumbie 72 (106) Graham Hume 4/34 (8 overs)		Andrew Balbirnie 82* (102) Brandon Mavuta 1/19 (5 overs)

Ireland won by 7 wickets (DLS method) Harare Sports Club, Harare Umpires: Adrian Holdstock (SA) and Langton Rusere (Zim) Player of the match: Andrew Balbirnie (Ire)

• Ireland won the toss and elected to field.
• The match was reduced to 40 overs per side due to rain.
• Ireland were set a revised target of 201 runs from 40 overs due to rain.
• Andrew Balbirnie (Ire) scored his 3,000th run in ODIs.^[8]

Notes

1. Sean Williams & Ryan Burl captained Zimbabwe in the 2nd & 3rd T20Is respectively.

References

1. "Zimbabwe to host Ireland for white-ball series". Zimbabwe Cricket. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
2. "Ireland Men's squad named for Zimbabwe Tour". Cricket World. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
3. "Hume, Rock in Ireland's T20I squad for Zimbabwe series". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
4. "Men's series set to get underway on Thursday; Stirling speaks to media". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 6 December 2023.
5. "Ireland to tour Zimbabwe". The Chronicle. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
6. "No surprises in Ireland squad". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
7. "Dockrell and Tector steer Ireland to 2-1 series win". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
8. "Campher, Balbirnie and Hume ensure Ireland win 2-0". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
9. "Balbirnie's leads Ireland to ODI series victory". Cricket World. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
10. "Gumbie hits fighting fifty but Ireland win third ODI to claim series". Zimbabwe Cricket. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
11. "Zimbabwe pick seven new players for Ireland ODIs". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
12. "Ireland Men's squad named for Zimbabwe Tour". Cricket Ireland. Archived from the original on 24 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
13. "Zimbabwe name new faces for Ireland T20Is". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
14. "Ireland name white-ball squad for Zimbabwe tour". A Sports. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
15. "ZIM vs IRE: Craig Ervine ruled out of three-match T20I series, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe announced as replacement". Crictracker. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
16. "Two-match ban ends Sikandar Raza's involvement in T20I series". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
17. "Zimbabwe star faces suspension for two games after ICC Code of Conduct breach". International Cricket Council. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
18. "Ireland take T20 decider to secure historic series win in Zimbabwe". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
19. "Ireland suffer agonising defeat at hands of Zimbabwe's Blessing Muzarabani in Harare". News Letter. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
20. "Zimbabwe v Ireland ODI: Josh Little and Curtis Campher shine as tourists take 1-0 ODI series lead". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
21. "Josh Little's record 6 for 36 puts Ireland 1-0 up". ESPNcricinfo. Retrieved 16 December 2023.

External links

• Series home at ESPNcricinfo