NEW: Chevrons draw first blood

Online Reporter

The Chevrons put up a polished performance with the ball on their way to a five-wicket victory over Ireland in the opening encounter of their three-match T20 series at Harare Sports Club on Thursday.

Ryan Burl’s man-of-the-match performance of three for 29 helped Zimbabwe bundle out the tourists for a paltry 114 runs.

Fellow Zimbabwe bowlers Tendai Chatara, Richard Ngarava and Wellington Masakadza chipped in with two wickets apiece, while Brad Evans added another.

Zimbabwe won the toss and decided to bowl.

Wickets fell at regular intervals, as Ireland found themselves guilty of bad decisions in batting.

Only Curtis Campher (20) and Gareth Delany (24) made some impression on the scoreboard.

The duo starred in two key partnerships – a 20-run fifth-wicket stand between Campher and George Dockrell, and a ninth-wicket stand between Delany and Fionn Hand of 31 runs off 20 balls – that saw Ireland stagger past the 100-run mark.

The Chevrons victory was, however, anything but straight-forward.

Their opening woes continued yet again, as the duo of Craig Ervine and Tadiwanashe Marumani fell inside the first eight balls of the run chase.

Both fell cheaply, with Ervine getting caught by Barry McCarthy off the bowling of part-time spinner Harry Tector for five, while Marumani was trapped leg-before-wicket by Mark Adair for an identical score.

Wesley Madhevere tried to put up a fight on his way to 16 runs off 22 balls, but again fell cheaply when he was bowled out by Tector while attempting an unnecessary slog.

Once again, Zimbabwe had to rely on their middle order to help them cross the line.

With the absence of Sikandar Raza (who is unavailable for the current tour), the onus fell to the duo of Sean Williams and a debuting Gary Ballance.

The two shared a 35-run third-wicket partnership that steadied the ship, before Williams saw Zimbabwe home with two more crucial partnerships.

The first was a 19-run fifth-wicket stand with Ryan Burl that came off 16 balls, and 28 off 16 balls sixth-wicket stand with wicketkeeper/batter Clive Madande.

Williams top-scored for Zimbabwe with 34 runs off 30 balls, while Ballance marked his Zimbabwe debut with 30 runs off 29 balls.

Only the duo of Tector and Adair made some sort of impression with the ball, finishing with figures of two for 17 runs and two for 12 runs, respectively.

The two sides meet again on Saturday at Harare Sports Club.