Published: Mar 17, 2014, 02:44 PM (IST)
Edited: Mar 17, 2014, 03:01 PM (IST)
Mar 17, 2014
Ireland take on Zimbabwe in the third match of the first round of the ICC T20 World Cup 2014 at Sylhet on Monday.
While the Irish will be aiming to make an impressive start to the tournament with a big win over a side that has been away from competitive cricket for more than six months, Zimbabwe’s pride will be at stake as they are the only Full Member nation of the International Cricket Council (ICC) which is in the qualifying round.
The Brendan Taylor-led side hasn’t played international cricket since their famous victory over Pakistan in the final Test of the two-match series at Harare in September 2013, as this is the only bright spot as well as a source of inspiration for them.
The rustiness was evident as Zimbabwe started off on a poor note when they lost their first warm-up match to a lowly Hong Kong side by four wickets, but they bounced back with a comprehensive win over Afghanistan by seven wickets. Hamilton Masakazda scored a fine 93 studded with seven sixes and five boundaries off just 52 balls as Zimbabwe registered an impressive win.
Squads:
Ireland: William Porterfield (c), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Ed Joyce, Andy McBrine, Tim Murtagh, Kevin Obrien, Niall Obrien, Andrew Poynter, James Shannon, Max Sorensen,. Paul Stirling, Stuart Thompson, Gary Wilson, Craig Young
Zimbabwe: Brendan Taylor (c), Timycen Maruma, Hamilton Masakadza, Tendai Chatara, Elton Chigumbura, Tafadzwa Kamungozi, Sikandar Raza, Prosper Utseya, Brian Vitori, Malcolm Waller, Sean Williams, Shingi Masakadza, Natsai M’shangwe, Tinashe Panyangara, Vusi Sibanda.
Catch live scores and ball-by-ball commentary of the Ireland vs Zimbabwe match here
