
5.35pm What a great turnaround from Ireland today. Zimbabwe were 72 for 1 at the start of the day, but the Irish bowlers made a terrific play in the first two sessions to ensure Zimbabwe’s lead was only seven runs after two innings of play. After that, Ireland’s top order ensured a steady start to the third innings and the visitors’ lead now stands at 76. In all, ten wickets fell today for 276 runs.
Zimbabwe could’ve conceded a much bigger lead if it wasn’t for debutant Welch’s 90 and the late resistance from No. 10 Muzarabani and No. 11 Gwandu. Their 67-run partnership ensured Zimbabwe grabbed a slight lead. Credit also to McCarthy (4-75) and McBrine (3-59) for triggering the Zimbabwe collapse.
Opportunity for Ireland to post a challenging target for Zimbabwe come tomorrow. With the ball turning, wickets will naturally fall, but certain batters from both sides have shown that runs are available if batters apply themselves. We’ll see you nice and early tomorrow for day three. Till then, on behalf of Chetan, Harshith and Ekanth, this is Sreshth saying adios!