Ireland 150 all out in 45 overs (Lara Maritz 26, Leah Paul 14; Tasneem Granger 4 for 24) lost to Zimbabwe Women 154 for 5 in 41 overs (Chipo Mugeri 42, Anesu Mushangwe 39; Lousie Little 1 for 14) by 5 wickets.
Potchefstroom — Bagging their second win in the quadrangular cricket series, Zimbabwe Women displayed an all-round performance against Ireland Women. Thanks to Chipo Mugeri, Anesu Mushangwe and Modester Mupachikwa that their remarkable batsmanship took Zimbabwe home and chased down 151 with 9 overs remaining.
However, their innings started poorly that saw Loren Tshuma depart for a mere 5. The onus was then on the pair of Mugeri and Mupachikwa.
Both paced their innings with much precision, putting Ireland on the back foot. They added 70 runs for the second wicket, with Mupachikwa scoring the bulk of the runs. She was run out for a 60-ball 37. Mugeri, meanwhile, continued marching towards victory with Anesu Mushangwe. The pair batted with calmness and played out almost 60 balls, scoring at 3 RPO.
Needing another 30 runs to win, Ireland staged a comeback dismissing Mary-Anne Musonda and Esther Mbofana in quick succession. Leah Paul picked up Musonda for a 9-ball duck, while Mbofana was bowled by Lara Maritz for 5. It was Mushangwe who kept Zimbabwe in the game. She, along with Pellagiua Mujaji, ensured a 5-wicket win for their team.
Earlier, batting first, Ireland Women boosted their scoring with the help of 29 extras: 24 wides, 1 no-ball and 4 leg-byes. Their second best player was Lara Martiz with 26, who came into bat at No 9. For Ireland, almost every player got starts, but were unable to convert them into big scores. The collapse started with Tasneem Granger wreaking havoc picking the likes of Leah Paul, Laura Delany, Shauna Kavanagh and Amy Kenealy.
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Ireland were guilty of giving away wickets and not applying themselves in the middle. For them, the 10th-wicket partnership garnered 39 runs that enabled them to get to 150 runs. Apart from Granger who picked 4 wickets, Esther Mbofana picked 2, while Josephine Nkomo and Precious Marange picked one apiece. — online