Ger Siggins
Stormont

IRELAND finished the first day of the historic Test in Stormont firmly in the driving seat and well on the road to their second victory at this level. A committed bowling unit prised open Zimbabwe after the visitors looked set for a big score, before twisting the knife in a dramatic late collapse which saw six wickets fall for 17 runs.

After dismissing the Africans for 210, rain ended the day’s entertainment, sparing Ireland a tricky hour’s batting in fading light.

There was an emotional start to the day when a newly commissioned bell was unveiled in memory of Roy Torrens, the much-loved Ireland player and manager who died in 2021. Used to herald the start of play, the honour of ringing it for the first time went to Torrens’ widow Joan.

Andrew Balbirnie won the toss and asked Zimbabwe to bat, reckoning the muggy conditions and slate grey clouds would aid his seamers. It must have been an uncomfortable lunch for the captain with the score on 85-0.            

Perhaps it was inevitable that a match staged in the grounds of Stormont Castle would see extravagantly titled visitors make life difficult for the Irish. Zimbabwe’s openers Prince Masvaure and Joylord Gumbie batted right through the first session and were only parted with 97 runs on the board.

It was the 31st over when Gumbie swished at Barry McCarthy and was well caught by Curtis Campher moving to his right at square leg. Soon after, the Pembroke seamer bowled a peach to Myers which moved away and knocked over his off stump.

Afterwards, McCarthy admitted: ‘The two openers batted nicely. We could have been a yard fuller with the new ball but addressed that at lunch and it worked out. It’s always exciting as a seam bowler when the ball is moving and you get a bit of bounce.’

With the first cracks opened, it was a rebuilding job for Zimbabwe and Masvaure made a career best 74 but ruefully acknowledged ‘It’s a good batting track, we should have capitalised on it more than we did’.

The second session was emphatically Ireland’s with three wickets taken for 68, but things heated up after tea.

The threatening Campher strangled Masvaure down the leg side where Lorcan Tucker quickly to take a ball that moved away and dipped.

Mark Adair failed to spark in the morning session, perhaps guilty of trying too hard at his home ground. The leader of the Irish attack has been injured – this was his first game for six weeks – and looked far from his fiery best before he returned for a final push.

At the other end Balbirnie persisted with Andy McBrine’s off-spin and was rewarded with the wicket of Seán Williams for 35, the ball finding a footmark and edging to Paul Stirling at slip.

The next ball, Clive Madande’s first in Test cricket, saw the wicketkeeper-bat try to launch it into Dundonald, but he miscued badly to reduce Zimbabwe to 193-6. Adair grabbed two quick wickets, including his 200th for Ireland, before McCarthy returned to complete Test-best figures of 3-42.