Zimbabwe v Ireland ODI: Josh Little and Curtis Campher shine as tourists take 1-0 ODI series lead
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Josh Little's six-wicket haul helped Ireland take a 1-0 lead in the series with Sunday's final match to come
Second one-day international, Harare |
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Zimbabwe 166 (42.5 overs): Masakadza 40, Burl 38, Madande 33; Little 6-36 |
Ireland 170-6 (40.1 overs): Campher 66, Tucker 28; Muzarabani 2-23 |
Ireland won by 4 wickets |
Josh Little's record one-day ODI figures of 6-36 and Curtis Campher's 66 helped Ireland win game two of the three-match series in Zimbabwe.
Little dismissed Tinashe Kamunhukamwe, Joylord Gumbie, Milton Shumba and Sikandar Raza to leave the hosts 19-4.
Zimbabwe needed Wellington Masakadza's 40 to post 166 in 42.5 overs.
But Campher hit 66 as Ireland's four-wicket win put them 1-0 up in the three-match series after rain washed out the opener in Harare.
Little's bowling figures, which also included the wickets of Masakadza and Richard Ngarava, surpassed Paul Stirling's previous best one-day Irish haul of 6-55 against Afghanistan in March 2017.
Masakadza's knock helped Zimbabwe recover from the early damage, with Ryan Burl contributing 38 and Clive Madande posting 33.
But their total always looked well below par as they missed out on 7.1 of their allotted 50 overs.
Little stars on 100th Ireland appearance
Little, who played in the Indian Premier League this year, produced his performance on his 100th Ireland appearance.
"Firstly it's nice to get a team win and then nice to have some personal success on what was a personal day for me on my 100th cap," said the seamer, after he was named player of the match.
"Today I managed to beat the bat quite a few times which keeps the ball nice and new and luckily swung a few."
Little wreaked havoc in the fourth over, claiming three wickets off five deliveries at Harare Sports Club.
He the dismissed Zimbabwe star Sikandar Raza, deputising as captain for injured Craig Ervine, soon after for just two, before a 63-run partnership between Masakadza and Burl steadied the hosts' innings.
Ireland skipper Stirling described Little's 10 overs as "one of the best spells I have seen".
"We wanted to go 1-0 up and ticked that box. There is a series to win and we will come back hungry on Sunday," added the Irish captain.
Curtis Campher innings of 66 helped Ireland pass Zimbabwe's modest total
Despite Andrew Balbirnie being bowled in the first ball of the Ireland reply by Ngarava and Stirling also departing cheaply, Ireland were lifted by Campher's innings - which was interrupted by a 30-minute rain delay - and reached 124-3 in the 30th over.
However Brandon Mavuta bowled Campher, with Lorcan Tucker (28) quickly following him to the pavilion to leave the tourists on 132-5.
But despite a few scares, Mark Adair's unbeaten 25 steered Ireland home in 40.1 overs.
The Irish were looking to follow up their Twenty20 series in Zimbabwe, where they bounced back from an opening-game loss to clinch a 2-1 victory for their first series success in the African country.
Ireland went into the December contests after a hugely disappointing summer which had included their failure to progress to this year's World Cup from the qualifier in Zimbabwe in June.
However, the hosts were also low on confidence after recently missing out on qualification for next year's T20 World Cup in the Caribbean and USA.
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