Zimbabwe and Ireland will go head to head against each other in the 1st T20I of the 3-match series at the Harare Sports Club in Harare. Both teams are missing some of their players due to their participation in the different T20 franchise leagues.
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Zimbabwe will miss the services of their star all-rounder Sikandar Raza in this series, whereas Blessing Muzarabani is also not available. Gary Ballance is selected for the very first time, and it will be interesting to see how he will fare out after switching to Zimbabwe from England recently.
Ireland are missing the services of Paul Stirling and Josh Little, both of them are a really important part of the Irish setup. Andy Balbirnie will be leading the batting of the side, whereas Curtis Campher is their star all-rounder. The bowling of the side will rely on bowlers like Mark Adair, Barry McCarthy, George Dockrell, etc.
Harare Sports Club pitch report
Harare Sports Club in Harare has been a competitive track, and we have seen some really close finishes at this ground. This is a good track to bat on, but we have seen that the pacers have always got some help from this track with the new ball because of the conditions.
A total of 6 T20Is were played here in 2022, where the average 1st innings score was 159 runs only. Even with such a small score, four out of six games were won by the teams batting first. This pitch gets a little tough to bat on in the 2nd innings and spinners can play a big part later on.
The outfield of this ground is not that quick, whereas one side of the boundary is a little longer as well. Anything above 165 can be a very good score on this track considering the previous record. Both captains may opt to bat upon winning the toss here in Harare.
