The one-off Test between Zimbabwe and Ireland will be played on 25th July at the Civil Service Cricket Ground in Belfast.
Match preview:
On 25th July, the Civil Service cricket ground will become the 123rd venue to host a Test match as Ireland will host Zimbabwe for a one-off Test.
Both of the sides haven’t played much Test in the recent past. Ireland will be playing their ninth Test match in six years, and it will be their first against Zimbabwe.
After losing seven Test matches, Ireland finally made history by beating Afghanistan in March 2024. Unsurprisingly, they will be looking forward to a second successive victory in the longest format of the game.
Ireland may miss the services of Josh Little as the pacer is busy playing the Major League Cricket (MLC) in the USA, even though Little had said, he is “passionate” about Test cricket.
So, the pace attack of Ireland will be led by Mark Adair and Barry McCarthy. Adair was man of the match when Ireland won their first ever Test match.
With the bat, Ireland will be relying on their young guns like Harry Tector and Lorcan Tucker. The role of Curtis Campher and Paul Stirling will be crucial too.
Talking about Zimbabwe, the side has been facing downfall as they could not make it to the T20 World Cup 2024, ODI World Cup 2023, and have not been a part of the ongoing Test Championship either. The side has only won two Tests since 2013 and none since 2021 and did not step into this format for over 12 months.
What most surprising and sad fact is from the Zimbabwe side that barring only two players (Craig Ervine and Sean Williams) none of the selected players have even played a total of ten Test matches.
Four players are uncapped while Blessing Muzarabani, their best bowler, will be playing this format for the first time since 2021. So, Zimbabwe is carrying an inexperienced batting and bowling attack which will leave the responsibility on Muzarabani, Tendai Chatara, Victor Nyauchi and Richard Ngarava to put up their A game against the host side.
Moreover, Zimbabwe will be facing a similar face in Peter Moor. The batsman has played 8 Test matches for Zimbabwe in between 2016 and 2018 before he switched to present Ireland last year and is expected to open against his previous team.
Weather and pitch update:
The rain is predicted to spoil the show as there are 60% chances of rain on the opening day of the Test match. Talking about the venue, it has been the super batting friendly in the limited-overs game but batting against the red-ball in the overcast condition can be a daunting task.
Head-to-head:
The upcoming Test will be the first ever Test match between Zimbabwe and Ireland.
Predictions:
Ireland are favourites to win this one-off Test match if rain won’t spoil the show. Given their terrific performance against Afghanistan, the Irish side will look to replicate those heroics against the disappointed Zimbabwe’s side.
Where to watch:
In Pakistan one can watch the game on Tapmad, In India, one can tune the game on the Fancode app. SuperSport will broadcast the match in Sub-Saharan Africa. The match will also be broadcast live on the Cricket Ireland’s YouTube channel.
