By Hendrix
Down five wickets for 31 and staring at a heavy defeat, Ireland flipped the script, outlasted the conditions, and closed out a 63-run win over Zimbabwe in Bulawayo. The only Test of the tour swung hard in both directions across five days, but Ireland’s grit and their spinners’ patience settled it on February 10, 2025, at Queens Sports Club.
The match had everything: an opening-day spell from Blessing Muzarabani that shredded the top order, a rescue act from Andy McBrine, a dogged chase led by Wesley Madhevere, and a late burst from Matthew Humphreys that broke Zimbabwe’s last stand. It also delivered a quiet milestone for Ireland—a third Test win on the bounce, rare territory for a young team still building its red-ball identity.
Ireland overturn early collapse to seize control
Winning the toss on February 6 and batting first looked the brave call. It almost blew up in Ireland’s face. The Bulawayo surface on the opening morning offered just enough seam and bounce to make new-ball lengths dangerous. Muzarabani hit them again and again. He was relentless, hitting the splice and the edge, and the scoreline—31 for five—told its own story.
Peter Moor nicked off early, undone by that late lift that turns a tentative push into a catching drill. Captain Andy Balbirnie was trapped into a sharp close-in chance, Harry Tector edged a beauty at chest height, and Paul Stirling’s leading edge ballooned to the slips. Muzarabani’s first-innings figures—seven for 58—weren’t just eye-catching; they set the tone. Zimbabwe had the ball on a string and a foot on Ireland’s throat.
Enter Andy McBrine. He didn’t try to match fire with flash. He went the other way—left balls on a fifth stump, kept his hands soft, used the crease, and picked off anything a fraction straight. As the ball lost its sting and the seam marks softened, McBrine turned a rescue job into a platform. His unbeaten 90 wasn’t flashy; it was stubborn, controlled, and perfectly timed. Ireland got to 260 in 56.4 overs, a number that felt 60 runs larger given the carnage early on.
Zimbabwe’s reply was measured. The middle overs—slow, patient, attritional—suited them. Nigel Welch anchored the innings with 90, playing late and straight, happy to let the ball come to him. Ireland’s seamers probed, but Barry McCarthy’s 4-75 was the only haul that truly bent the innings. Zimbabwe reached 267 in 86.1 overs and a small lead of seven. Not much on paper, but psychologically, it felt like a reset after conceding a total when Ireland had been five down inside the first hour of the Test.
From there, the match became a question of who would blink first. Ireland’s second dig answered it. Balbirnie put his shoulders into the job. He cut in front of square, drove on the rise when it was full, and left well outside off when it wasn’t. His 66 wasn’t a headline hundred, but it moved the game. Ireland slowed the tempo, forced Zimbabwe’s quicks to work through longer spells, and shielded the lower order from the second new ball.
Richard Ngarava stepped up for Zimbabwe with 4-55, bending the ball back into the right-handers and cramping the cut. But Ireland’s middle and lower-middle order managed the spells, nudged ones and twos, and eked out a total that gave their bowlers a real target to defend—298 in 93.3 overs, and a lead of 291.
Zimbabwe’s chase of 292 started with hope and a plan: bat time, cash in later. It held for a while, thanks to Madhevere’s clean-footwork 84, a mix of risk management and crisp strokeplay. But as the surface wore and the rough patches widened outside off, Matthew Humphreys came into it like a locksmith. He altered angles, varied speeds, and dragged length just short of full. Edges, bat pads, and a slice of indecision followed.
Humphreys’ six for 57 was the match’s turning of the screw. Each wicket tightened the net. When Madhevere finally fell, Zimbabwe’s resistance frayed. The end came with a McBrine flourish: a gently floated ball that dipped and held, sneaking past Richard Ngarava’s bat to knock back off stump. Zimbabwe folded for 228 in 86.4 overs—63 short of the line they’d chased all afternoon.
For Ireland, this was not a one-man show. McBrine’s first-innings 90 built the bridge. Balbirnie’s second-innings 66 paved it. Humphreys laid the last bricks. In between, the seamers did what seamers do in Bulawayo: keep it tight, chip away, and wait for the moments the ball kisses life again.
Tactical shifts, turning points, and what it means
What changed after 31 for five? Not the conditions. Ireland changed the contest by stripping the game down to its basics. They left more. They played late. They targeted straight lines when Zimbabwe missed their marks. Instead of hoping for a breakout partnership, they stacked 20s and 30s around McBrine’s anchor. That’s how teams turn bad mornings into playable afternoons.
McBrine’s 90 was the match’s first hinge. It sapped Zimbabwe’s momentum, helped Ireland crash through the 200 mark from a position where 150 looked fanciful, and gave their bowlers something to defend with fields that didn’t have to be reckless. Yes, Muzarabani was brilliant. But even great spells end. McBrine made sure Ireland still had a hand to play when they did.
The second hinge was the way Ireland used time in their second innings. They didn’t hunt quick runs; they hunted tired legs. By pushing Zimbabwe’s attack into third and fourth spells and denying easy bursts of momentum, they bought themselves a surface that would later grip for Humphreys. It was classic fifth-day cricket built on third-day discipline.
Humphreys’ spell was the third hinge. The left-arm spinner didn’t chase side spin early. He targeted the stumps, attacked off stump, and let natural variation do the heavy lifting. The wickets weren’t gifts. He earned them by making batters play down uncertain lines. Six for 57 is the shorthand; the longer story is control, bravery with flight, and the confidence to keep the ball up even when a boundary sneaks through.
Zimbabwe didn’t go quietly. Welch’s first-innings 90 held the hosts together when the middle overs sagged. Madhevere’s 84 in the chase gave the dressing room belief when the target still felt distant. Ngarava’s second-innings shift (4-55) dragged Ireland back whenever the innings threatened to run away. And Muzarabani’s 7-58 was one of the best fast-bowling spells seen in recent Tests by a Zimbabwean quick—high release, steep bounce, just enough nibble. The raw materials are there.
But the gaps are clear too. Zimbabwe struggled to turn starts into match-defining knocks. When the surface slowed and Ireland went stump-to-stump, the singles dried up and pressure built. They also missed the small windows where a burst of 30 quick runs can flip the narrative. In Tests decided by one session, those lapses grow teeth.
For Ireland, this win travels well. Away from home, on a pitch that started quick and ended crusty, they found a way. They used seam early, spin late, and the bat in between to deny Zimbabwe a knockout punch. That’s what established Test teams do: they survive the ugly phases and cash in on the quiet ones.
There were personal wins inside the team’s result. McBrine not only top-scored in the first innings but also delivered the final wicket—bookends that tell you how crucial he is to their balance. Balbirnie’s 66 steadied a dressing room that had been rattled on day one. Humphreys, still growing into the format, now has a six-for abroad—a statement spell that should buy him time and trust in bigger contests.
Zoom out, and the bigger picture looks bright. Since earning Test status, Ireland’s path has been stop-start—few fixtures, long gaps, and lots of learning on the fly. Stringing three wins in a row isn’t just a stat; it’s proof of a team learning how to pace five days, not just one or two. It’s also proof of a bowling group that can hunt in different ways: through new-ball lift, reverse when it’s on offer, and spin when the grooves appear outside off.
Conditions at Queens Sports Club played their part, as they always do. Mornings offered seam and bounce. Afternoons went flat. Evenings, especially late on days three and four, brought the spinners into the game as footmarks and rough patches started to bite. Ireland read that arc and timed their pushes. Zimbabwe rode it early but couldn’t hold it when it turned.
Selection debates will ripple from this match. Zimbabwe will be pleased with their quicks and the control they found. They might ask if they left a spinner’s overs unused in the middle phase when the pitch first started to wear. Ireland will like the balance they fielded: seamers who can hit a hard length for long spells, a spinner with patience and bite, and an all-rounder in McBrine who closes the gaps between departments.
Fielding was another quiet separator. Ireland’s catching behind the bat stuck when it had to, and their ring fielders cut off the drip-feed of singles that often keeps a chase calm. Zimbabwe created chances but didn’t turn enough of them into strings of wickets once the new ball lost bite. That’s not flash—it’s systems, drills, and habits showing up when nerves begin to nibble.
As for the records and milestones, a few stand out without needing footnotes. Muzarabani’s seven-for sits among Zimbabwe’s best fast-bowling returns in recent years. Humphreys’ six-for plants a flag for Ireland’s spin stocks on away soil. And the three-win streak is a marker of progress for a Test side still writing its early chapters.
Beyond the numbers, the game offered a clean template for how Ireland want to win Tests: compete through the hardest session, drain the sting out of the ball through disciplined batting, keep the scoreboard moving even when boundaries dry up, and then let spin take over late with men around the bat. It’s not a one-size plan, but it travels.
Zimbabwe, for their part, have real positives to bank. Muzarabani and Ngarava as a pace pair give them height, tempo, and angles that play anywhere. Madhevere’s ability to bat time while still finding release shots can grow into a top-order anchor role. Add a touch more conversion—turning 40s into 90s, 90s into hundreds—and the close games swing back their way.
Here are the numbers that shaped the result:
- First innings: Ireland 260 all out (56.4 overs), rebuilt from 31-5 courtesy McBrine 90*; Blessing Muzarabani 7-58
- Zimbabwe 267 all out (86.1 overs): Nigel Welch 90; Barry McCarthy 4-75
- Second innings: Ireland 298 all out (93.3 overs): Andy Balbirnie 66; Richard Ngarava 4-55
- Target 292; Zimbabwe 228 all out (86.4 overs): Wesley Madhevere 84; Matthew Humphreys 6-57, Andy McBrine with the final wicket
- Result: Ireland won by 63 runs; streak extended to three straight Test victories
And the phases that decided it:
- Stemming the bleeding: McBrine’s calm, low-risk 90* after the early collapse kept Ireland alive.
- Owning the third day: Balbirnie’s 66 and Ireland’s refusal to chase tempo forced Zimbabwe to bowl in long, hard spells.
- Spin in the dusk: Humphreys’ control of length and tempo on a wearing pitch broke the chase open.
On another day, Madhevere turns 84 into a hundred, or Muzarabani finds one more in-swinger with the second new ball. Instead, Ireland’s discipline won out. They stayed on plan, trusted their methods, and squeezed when the surface asked for patience.
The calendar will throw up tougher tests, no doubt. But this one matters. Winning abroad, adapting across conditions, and finding match-winners in different departments—that builds a team’s spine. It also builds belief that the next time a scoreboard shows 31-5, the dressing room won’t flinch.
Bulawayo got a proper red-ball contest: a fast start, a tense middle, a thoughtful finish. It also got a clear message from a team still growing into the format. For anyone still wondering whether Ireland can carry their game over five days, this was the latest, loudest answer—delivered in the heat, on a slowing pitch, against a side that fought all week.
One more thing worth underlining for the searchers and the stat keepers: this Ireland vs Zimbabwe Test wasn’t won by one spell alone, or one innings. It was won by a chain of small, stubborn choices—leave more, bowl straighter, catch better—that added up to a big win.