ANDY MCBRINE starred with both bat and ball as Ireland beat Zimbabwe by four wickets in a one-off Test in Belfast on Sunday after recovering from a dramatic top-order collapse.
Set just 158 to win in the shadow of Stormont Castle, Ireland had slumped to 33-5 at the close of Saturday’s third day, with Zimbabwe left-arm quick Richard Ngarava doing the bulk of the damage in a sensational burst of 4-12 in four overs.
But in the first Test to be played in Northern Ireland, the home side lost just one more wicket on Sunday.
Lorcan Tucker (56) and McBrine, who completed a fine all-round match to be 55 not out, turned the tide after coming together when Ireland had collapsed to 21-5.
They added 96 for the sixth wicket before Tucker chopped on from Blessing Muzarabani with Ireland still 41 runs short of victory.
Mark Adair, however, who was born in nearby Holywood, settled quickly making 24 not out and hitting the winning boundary as Ireland finished on 158-6 to triumph with more than a day to spare.
Off-spinner McBrine was named player of the match after the 31-year-old took a combined 7-75 across Zimbabwe’s two innings.
“McBrine is the guy you want to put in your cricket bag and take everywhere. Exceptionally skilful and deserved the award today,” said Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie.
The victory gave Ireland, who lost their opening seven Tests, a first home win in the format and back-to-back successes after they beat Afghanistan for their first Test win in March.
“We did believe last night,” said Balbirnie.
“We had our two best batters out (there). That partnership was special. It was fitting for Mark, hometown boy, to get us over the line.”
Stormont became the second Test venue in Ireland after Malahide and the 123rd in the history of Test cricket.
“Probably didn’t think growing up that there’d be a Test here,” said McBrine, who comes from the Northern Ireland village of Donemana.
“We tried to be as positive as we can.”
McBrine said he had been “working hard behind the scenes” on his bowling before paying tribute to Ireland’s quicks.
“It was not an easy wicket to bowl on but the way they rotated allowed me to take wickets as well.”
Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine was left thinking of what might have been had they been able to continue on Saturday night when Ireland were on the ropes at 33-5.
“We’d have liked five, six more overs last night,” he said. “Our games against have Ireland have always been competitive.”
Brief scores, close on day four:
Zimbabwe 210 (P Masvaure 74, J Gumbie 49; A McBrine 3-37, B McCarthy 3-42) and 197 (D Myers 57, S Williams 40; A McBrine 4-38) v Ireland 250 (PJ Moor 79; T Chivanga 3-39, B Muzarabani 3-53) and 158-6 (L Tucker 56, A McBrine 55 no; R Ngarava 4-53)
Result: Ireland won by four wickets
Toss: Ireland
The most regrettable aspect is that we’ve gained Test status just as India, England and Australia have effectively restricted fixtures in that format among themselves, 20-30 years ago, the smaller nations enjoyed a far more regular calendar schedule.
@Paul Culloty: absolutely.
I think there will be more frequent tests for Ireland over the next couple of years, however.
Just as well, seeing as how Cricket Ireland doesn’t seem to be able to get a domestic first class competition off the ground
@Paul Culloty: The reason primarily being that only significant crowds turn out for Test match cricket in England, India and Australia right? Hope you made it up to Belfast this week.
McBrine and Tucker batted extremely well today, albeit in lovely conditions. They got a bit lucky with the decision to curtail yesterday’s play but it was all nicely set up for a reasonable crowd to come and watch the conclusion.