Zimbabwe pacer Blessing Muzarabani made a big impact for his side on the opening day of the first Test against Ireland in Bulawayo. He took 7/58 as the tall and lanky pacer made life difficult for the Irish batters.
Ireland won the toss and opted to bat first in Bulawayo in Thursday. However, Muzarabani had other ideas as he went through the Irish batting lineup.
The first four Ireland batters were dismissed for single-digit scores. Paul Stirling batting at number five was the first batter to score in double digits. He did not stay long as he was dismissed for just 10. Lorcan Tucker the keeper scored 33. The real resistance came from the all-rounders Andy McBrine (90) and Mark Adair (78). The duo took the score from 82/6 to 209/9. The partnership brought some sort of resistance to the Ireland innings.
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Blessing Muzarabani Takes Best Figures In Test Criket
After Blessing's seven wickets, Richard Ngarava picked two wickets and Trevor Gwandu picked one to bowl out Ireland. With the bat, they scored 71/1 from 21 overs at stumps on day one. Opener Takudzwanashe Kaitano was unbeaten on 26. Ben Curran the other opener scored 12 off 14 and was dismissed. Nick Welch was unbeaten on 33 off 51 balls alongside Kaitano. Zimbabwe trails by 188 runs at the start of day two which promises to be as exciting as Day 1.
It was a day dominated by Zimbabwe with both bat and ball. Muzarabani's spell was a brilliant display of fast bowling on home conditions as he rattled the Ireland batting lineup. Zimbabwe have the upper hand heading into day 2. Barry McCarthy claimed the only wicket today for the Ireland team. Ben Curran looked in decent touch at the top, however, Barry McCarthy got him caught behind in the 6th over. Kaitano and Welch have looked in control since then as the deficit has been reduced below the 200-run mark.
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