BULAWAYO: Captain Andy Balbirnie and Lorcan Tucker scored half-centuries as Ireland posted 298 in their second innings to build a 291-run lead over Zimbabwe on Saturday in a one-off Test.

Balbirnie made 66 and Tucker 58 on the third day at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo while seamer Richard Ngarava was the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers, taking four wickets for 55 runs.

The odds in a seesaw match have swung toward Ireland as Zimbabwe have never scored 292 runs to win a Test when batting last.

Zimbabwe have also been weakened by the unavailability of three potential big scorers — captain Craig Ervine, Sean Williams and Sikandar Raza.

Balbirnie patiently built his innings, facing 160 balls and hitting two fours before he was dismissed in a tight leg-before call that gave Wessly Madhevere his maiden Test wicket.

Tucker was caught in the covers by stand-in skipper Johnathan Campbell after getting a top edge to a Ngarava delivery. His 95-ball knock included a six and six fours.

Ngarava then claimed the wickets of Mark Adair (15) and Barry McCarthy (11) tomatch his Test-best of four in an innings.

Blessing Muzarabani, who took seven wickets in the first Irish innings, had to settle for just one second time round.

Brief scores:

IRELAND 260 and 298 (A. Balbirnie 66, L. Tucker 58; R. Ngarava 4-55); ZIMBABWE 267 (N. Welch 90, B. Muzarabani 47; B. McCarthy 4-75, A. McBrine 3-59) and 38-3.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2025