Toss Ireland opt to bowl vs Zimbabwe
While the chasing team has won five of the last seven completed games in Harare, forecast of rain later in the day could have played a part behind Ireland’s decision to bowl too. The two sides had met in an ODI series at the same venue in December 2023 too, with Ireland winning 2-0 with successful chases on both occasions after the first game was washed out.
“It’s a morning start, but we’ll have to adapt quickly,” Stirling said at the toss. “We’ve put the Test win behind us quickly. Zimbabwe are never a dull side.”
Ervine said they would’ve bowled too, citing the “movement early on.”
“Seeing the pitch, don’t think there are any demons in there. We’ll be cautious in the first ten overs.”
Ireland 1 Paul Stirling (capt), 2 Andrew Balbirnie, 3 Harry Tector, 4 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 5 Curtis Campher, 6 George Dockrell, 7 Andy McBrine, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Graham Hume, 10 Matthew Humphreys, 11 Joshua Little
Zimbabwe 1 Tadiwanashe Marumani (wk), 2 Ben Curran, 3 Craig Ervine (capt), 4 Sikandar Raza, 5 Brian Bennett, 6 Wessly Madhevere, 7 Johnathan Campbell, 8 Wellington Masakadza, 9 Newman Nyamhuri, 10 Richard Ngarava, 11 Blessing Muzarabani
