Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie was delighted after watching his side fight back to beat Zimbabwe by four wickets at Stormont.
Ireland started day four on 33-5 and well short of the 158 they needed to win the Test match.
But a super 96-run partnership between Lorcan Tucker (56) and Andy McBrine (55 not out) helped the them to back-to-back Test wins.
“We spoke in the dressing room last night about how we had two of the best Test batsmen at the crease and that we still believed we could win,” said opener Balbirnie.
“The beauty of Test cricket is the ebbs and flows. Saturday night was a tough watch but today we got our rewards for four days of hard work and we are delighted to win this Test here in front of our friends, family and fans.”
It was the first Test match in Northern Ireland with Donemana man McBrine player of the match after also claiming seven wickets.
“I’m proud to be from the north-west, so to play a part in this win is special,” said the 31-year-old.
“We all worked hard in the build-up to this and I worked with the bowling coaches, so to see it pay off with seven wickets is fantastic.”
There was disappointment for Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine after his side missed a great opportunity of a first Test win since 2021.
“We gave ourselves a good platform in both innings but our lower order let us down a little bit with some cheap wickets,” he said.
“The future looks bright with fast bowlers like Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava and Tanaka Chivanga.”
Source link : https://www.bbc.com/sport/cricket/articles/cxx25yprjdko
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Publish date : 2024-07-28 13:32:35
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