Little, Young trouble Zimbabwe before rain has the final say
Ryan Burl did some repair work for the hosts after a woeful powerplay, helping them to 77 for 5 in their nine
Ryan Burl did some repair work for the hosts after a woeful powerplay, helping them to 77 for 5 in their nine
Scorer: Harshith Gowda | Commentator: Rashad Mahbub
That concludes our actions. Please join us for the second T20I of the series tomorrow at the same time and venue. Hopefully the weather will be better. Until then, I'm signing off on behalf of myself, Harshith, Abhimanyu, and the rest of the ESPNcricinfo team.
4:55 pm Well, people, awful news! The rain has intensified and shows no signs of stopping. The match officials have opted to call it a day, with the game abandoned. I'm sorry for the supporters in the stands who have been soaked in the rain for several hours. I hope they loved the 9-over action, particularly Ryan Burl's spectacular cameo, which gave them much to cheer about.
4:45 pm Welcome back to the second innings of the match, or should I say, another rain break! It's pouring beneath the floodlights, and the covers are completely on. The sky is gradually becoming darker.
4:35 pm We eventually had a match in play after a two-hour delay due to rain, but with only nine overs each team. Following the consecutive wickets of Bennett and Raza in Young's opening over, Zimbabwe was already in serious difficulty after just two overs. Marumani battled with his 9-ball innings, missing all four of Little's deliveries until hitting a toe-end shot to mid-off. Ireland dominated the powerplay with the ball in hand, taking three wickets and surrendering only 11 runs. Burl initiated a counter-attack, smashing two enormous sixes off Delany's over. He was dropped by Ben White but went on to score 36 runs off 18 balls, providing the much-needed momentum lift to the home team. Musekiwa and Madhevere were the other two Zimbabwe batters to reach double digits today. There were a few missed catches later on, including two in the final over of the innings. Little and Young both took two wickets, with Hume grabbing the other. The weather became darker, and the lights were turned on. The coverings are brought out, hopefully for precautionary reasons. Following a brief interval, we will return to the intriguing run chase.
Prestige: "l don't want to be a bearer of bad news but l don't see this match ending in a result. A strong rain burst is approaching and this might be match ending"
Ireland need 78 runs to win the match
Ryan Burl did some repair work for the hosts after a woeful powerplay, helping them to 77 for 5 in their nine
While Ireland have already qualified for the big tournament, Zimbabwe need to make it out of the Africa qualifiers this year