Luck of the Irish Carries the Day

Luck of the Irish Carries the Day

By Perkins-Tino Bare

The Chevrons needed a six and on the other hand Ireland needed a wicket but in the end Zimbabwe Cricket`s hopes of making it to the quarters came to a brutal ending as they lost to Ireland by a mere 5 runs. In a must-win match for the Chevrons, it was just not their day as a couple of dropped catches and the top order once again failing to set up a good foundation for the chase saw the Chevron fire, which has been burning throughout the tourney fail to flicker a blaze at the Bellerive Oval.     

After winning the toss Zimbabwe sent in Ireland to bat on the flat pitch and without the injured skipper Elton Chigumbura, Brendan Taylor was to lead the charges and he went into the match both as skipper and wicket-keeper.

The Irish who bolster a county experience in their squad of 2/3 sent in Paul Stirling who paired up with his skipper William Porterfield as they looked forward to set a secure target against the Chevrons. Stirling soon departed for 10 as he fell victim to the bowling of Tinashe Panyangara. In came in Ed Joyce for the Irish and just as they were getting going the skipper called it a day departing for 29 and leaving his charges at 79/2.

Without both Elton Chigumbura and Prosper Utseya Zimbabwe`s Bowling attack looked vulnerable as they sent in Hamilton Masakadza to bowl which proved to be a bit too much for the big man as he averaged speeds of under120km/h.

Ed Joyce was dropped by Tawanda Mupariwa at 34, and again by Craig Ervine at 105before it was to be third time lucky for the Chevrons as he was eventually caught by Craig Ervine at mid-wicket off the bowling of Tendai Chatara. Ireland took their power play in the 36^th over and with another contribution from Andrew Balbirine of 97 complemented Wilson and O’Brien, they set up target of 331/8 for the Chevrons.

Needing 332 to seal the match in what was going to be the highest chase at a World Cup, the Chevron openers Chamu Chibhabha and Sikander Raza who has had a rather torrid tournament down under knew exactly what needed to be done and started off with a couple of boundaries and soon Zimbabwe was on 18/0 after 5 overs.

Zimbabwe`s top-order however failed to set up that much needed strong foundation and the departure of Solomon Mire, whose experimental promotion up to third has been a total failure since he was not even performing at the lower end of the batting line-up.

Taylor partnered up with Williams to get the Chevrons back in the game with their brilliant partnership which should have won the match for the boys.

Brendan Taylor passed 5000 ODI runs in his innings and he had the quickest ODI 100 by a Zimbabwean which came off just 79 deliveries which set up his 7^th ODI ton. Together with Williams, they soon passed the 200 mark as they had a 5^th wicket stand of 149. Needing 110 runs from 13 overs, Taylor struck 2 sixes in one over before being deceived by a slower ball and was caught by O`Brien off the bowling of Cusack as he miscalculated another lofted drive popping it into the air right onto mid-wicket.

The pair`s partnership saw them gatecrashing their way into the top 5 of the batsmen standings at the World Cup as Brendan Taylor is Currently on 3^rd with 295 runs, a strike rate of a 100 and an average of 59 whilst Williams is the 4^th placed with 289 runs, a strike rate of 113 and a blistering average of 72.25. The bowlers are also in the fix as Tendai Chatara is currently the 9^th placed bowler with a total of 10 wickets and an R/O rate of 5.69 with a strike rate of 29.8.

Williams was however not to despair as he soon hit O`Brien for six but his mate Craig Ervine soon fell to the bowling of Andy McBride sending in Regis Chakabva in what was turning out to be a demanding chase our tail who had it all to do prior to the openers` failure to set up a strong foundation. The Chevrons, on 273/6 were well within their chase as Ireland were on 271 at the same stage. Sean Williams then went on to reach 80 for the first time in his ODI career having made eight scores of 70 before the game.

The match was evenly poised as the Chevrons were in need of 39 runs from 4 overs before Williams departed under murky circumstances in which Mooney caught him off while he had the his leg was clearly on the rope and during inconclusive reviews from the 3^rd umpire, Williams just did the noble thing and took Mooney`s word in an act of sportsmanship departing for a painful 96.

Speaking on the catch after the match Taylor said “I couldn`t tell if the umpire tried to hold him back or anything, But the way the fielder reacted, it looked pretty clear. I guess that`s up for discussion. You generally take the fielder`s opinion and you go with it. I don`t know maybe the umpires could have made a stronger call and had a few more looks at it on the big screen on the replays but that`s all history”.

Panyangara came in determined to end the match as he hammered Mooney down the ground before it went straight to the skipper Porterfield leaving the boys at 305/8. Tawanda Mupariwa came in fired up and smashed two consecutive fours through extra cover before hammering a six over deep square leg and just like that the match was up for the chevrons to lose as they were now on 325/8 needing just 7 off 6 balls. Chakabva was bowled right in the prime stages of the match by Cusack in what turned out to be a nervy finish. Mupariwa then soon followed departing for a quick-fire 18 from just 7 deliveries ending the match on the losing side but showing their fighting spirit which seems to have been bolstered by the presence of a World Cup winning coach in Dav Whatmore whose presence has been a crucial factor in this World Cup. Even though the Chevrons may be bowing out at the 1^st stage of the tournament, they not only showed a great fighting spirit but they also showed their huge potential which has to be handled properly.   

The Chevrons next play India on the 14^th of March at Eden Park in Auckland in their last match of the tournament before they head back home. The skipper went on to put the blame on his fielders as he said, “We were below poor out there,” Taylor told EspnCricinfo “We were shambolic, to be honest, in the field. You can`t give a batsman three chances. Of course he`s going to get a big hundred and lay the foundation for his team. Again we`ve dropped chances at crucial times. That was the difference between Ireland and us. They were more hungry, they were a bit more energetic. They probably wanted it a bit more.

For all feedback : perkinstinobare.blospot.com

By Perkins-Tino Bare

The Chevrons needed a six and on the other hand Ireland needed a wicket but in the end Zimbabwe Cricket`s hopes of making it to the quarters came to a brutal ending as they lost to Ireland by a mere 5 runs. In a must-win match for the Chevrons, it was just not their day as a couple of dropped catches and the top order once again failing to set up a good foundation for the chase saw the Chevron fire, which has been burning throughout the tourney fail to flicker a blaze at the Bellerive Oval.     

After winning the toss Zimbabwe sent in Ireland to bat on the flat pitch and without the injured skipper Elton Chigumbura, Brendan Taylor was to lead the charges and he went into the match both as skipper and wicket-keeper.

The Irish who bolster a county experience in their squad of 2/3 sent in Paul Stirling who paired up with his skipper William Porterfield as they looked forward to set a secure target against the Chevrons. Stirling soon departed for 10 as he fell victim to the bowling of Tinashe Panyangara. In came in Ed Joyce for the Irish and just as they were getting going the skipper called it a day departing for 29 and leaving his charges at 79/2.

Without both Elton Chigumbura and Prosper Utseya Zimbabwe`s Bowling attack looked vulnerable as they sent in Hamilton Masakadza to bowl which proved to be a bit too much for the big man as he averaged speeds of under120km/h.

Ed Joyce was dropped by Tawanda Mupariwa at 34, and again by Craig Ervine at 105before it was to be third time lucky for the Chevrons as he was eventually caught by Craig Ervine at mid-wicket off the bowling of Tendai Chatara. Ireland took their power play in the 36^th over and with another contribution from Andrew Balbirine of 97 complemented Wilson and O’Brien, they set up target of 331/8 for the Chevrons.

Needing 332 to seal the match in what was going to be the highest chase at a World Cup, the Chevron openers Chamu Chibhabha and Sikander Raza who has had a rather torrid tournament down under knew exactly what needed to be done and started off with a couple of boundaries and soon Zimbabwe was on 18/0 after 5 overs.

Zimbabwe`s top-order however failed to set up that much needed strong foundation and the departure of Solomon Mire, whose experimental promotion up to third has been a total failure since he was not even performing at the lower end of the batting line-up.

Taylor partnered up with Williams to get the Chevrons back in the game with their brilliant partnership which should have won the match for the boys.

Brendan Taylor passed 5000 ODI runs in his innings and he had the quickest ODI 100 by a Zimbabwean which came off just 79 deliveries which set up his 7^th ODI ton. Together with Williams, they soon passed the 200 mark as they had a 5^th wicket stand of 149. Needing 110 runs from 13 overs, Taylor struck 2 sixes in one over before being deceived by a slower ball and was caught by O`Brien off the bowling of Cusack as he miscalculated another lofted drive popping it into the air right onto mid-wicket.

The pair`s partnership saw them gatecrashing their way into the top 5 of the batsmen standings at the World Cup as Brendan Taylor is Currently on 3^rd with 295 runs, a strike rate of a 100 and an average of 59 whilst Williams is the 4^th placed with 289 runs, a strike rate of 113 and a blistering average of 72.25. The bowlers are also in the fix as Tendai Chatara is currently the 9^th placed bowler with a total of 10 wickets and an R/O rate of 5.69 with a strike rate of 29.8.

Williams was however not to despair as he soon hit O`Brien for six but his mate Craig Ervine soon fell to the bowling of Andy McBride sending in Regis Chakabva in what was turning out to be a demanding chase our tail who had it all to do prior to the openers` failure to set up a strong foundation. The Chevrons, on 273/6 were well within their chase as Ireland were on 271 at the same stage. Sean Williams then went on to reach 80 for the first time in his ODI career having made eight scores of 70 before the game.

The match was evenly poised as the Chevrons were in need of 39 runs from 4 overs before Williams departed under murky circumstances in which Mooney caught him off while he had the his leg was clearly on the rope and during inconclusive reviews from the 3^rd umpire, Williams just did the noble thing and took Mooney`s word in an act of sportsmanship departing for a painful 96.

Speaking on the catch after the match Taylor said “I couldn`t tell if the umpire tried to hold him back or anything, But the way the fielder reacted, it looked pretty clear. I guess that`s up for discussion. You generally take the fielder`s opinion and you go with it. I don`t know maybe the umpires could have made a stronger call and had a few more looks at it on the big screen on the replays but that`s all history”.

Panyangara came in determined to end the match as he hammered Mooney down the ground before it went straight to the skipper Porterfield leaving the boys at 305/8. Tawanda Mupariwa came in fired up and smashed two consecutive fours through extra cover before hammering a six over deep square leg and just like that the match was up for the chevrons to lose as they were now on 325/8 needing just 7 off 6 balls. Chakabva was bowled right in the prime stages of the match by Cusack in what turned out to be a nervy finish. Mupariwa then soon followed departing for a quick-fire 18 from just 7 deliveries ending the match on the losing side but showing their fighting spirit which seems to have been bolstered by the presence of a World Cup winning coach in Dav Whatmore whose presence has been a crucial factor in this World Cup. Even though the Chevrons may be bowing out at the 1^st stage of the tournament, they not only showed a great fighting spirit but they also showed their huge potential which has to be handled properly.   

The Chevrons next play India on the 14^th of March at Eden Park in Auckland in their last match of the tournament before they head back home. The skipper went on to put the blame on his fielders as he said, “We were below poor out there,” Taylor told EspnCricinfo “We were shambolic, to be honest, in the field. You can`t give a batsman three chances. Of course he`s going to get a big hundred and lay the foundation for his team. Again we`ve dropped chances at crucial times. That was the difference between Ireland and us. They were more hungry, they were a bit more energetic. They probably wanted it a bit more.

For all feedback : perkinstinobare.blospot.com