OPENING batsman Ben Curran scored an unbeaten 118, his maiden One Day International hundred, as Zimbabwe defeated Ireland by nine wickets in the final ODI match to lift the series 2-1.
This was Zimbabwe's first series win in almost two years.
Curran looked composed, taking the fight to the Irish bowlers after Zimbabwe's bowlers had restricted the tourists to 240/6 in 50 overs. He finished on 118 not out from 130 balls.
Captain Craig Ervine was equally explosive, scoring 69 runs off 59 balls, ending the match in style by sending a Dockrell delivery for six over long on. Zimbabwe reached 246/1 in 39.3 overs.
Brian Bennett was the only wicket to fall for Zimbabwe, scoring a run-a-ball 48. Curran was named player-of-the-match and was happy to contribute with the bat to a winning cause.
"Unbelievable feeling, and also to get the series win is a big thing for us. Just happy to contribute. To be honest, I wouldn't say there's too much of a difference. I think in the first two games, I didn't face many balls in the Power Play and hit a couple of fielders, so it didn't quite necessarily go my way, but I was running smoothly as I would have liked,” Curran said.
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"Luckily, today [yesterday], I hit the gaps a couple over for twos, then yeah, all good. (Pitch) I think they're pretty similar, to be honest. It got better to bat in the afternoon today but stop you early on. Easier to bat this afternoon and nice to get the win."
Ervine won the toss earlier, electing to bowl first and was glad to see his bowlers making use of the conditions to perfection. Seamers Richard Ngarava and Trevor Gwandu picked two wickets each, while Wellington Masakadza and Blessing Muzarabani had one wicket apiece.
Bennett was named player of the series.
"It's nice to be a couple of times (winning the award) for us. I'm just doing my best and doing one for the team. I like batting up at the top with the new ball, with the field restrictions as well," Bennett said.
"I think it makes it a bit easier, so that's just where I prefer batting at the moment. Just mainly bat and bowl, staying there for a long period. I think it gets easier the more balls you face, that's just the main thing. Yes, looking forward to that."
Ireland captain Paul Stirling said his team will have a sightseeing opportunity before coming back fired up for the T20I series.
"I think if I isolated both Innings, we were pretty happy coming out halfway. I think we could have probably got 20, possibly 30 extra runs, but to be honest, 320 wouldn't have been enough there in the second innings. So we'll probably review that and split the innings into two and see if we can dissect it," he said.
"We never really got past the seven runs in an over, but again, I was pretty pleased coming in halfway, I thought we had a chance of it if everything was equal and stayed the same, but fair play to Zimbabwe. They deserved that and knocked it off well.”