Raza leads Zimbabwe to victory against Ireland at T20 World Cup

INFORM All-rounder Sikandar Raza continued his brilliant form with a dominant display to inspire Zimbabwe to a comprehensive 31-run win over Ireland in their opening match of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart, Australia on Monday.

Raza, who was in brilliant form in the lead-up to the global tournament, yet again showed why he is one of the top players in world cricket at the moment with a Man of the Match display.

He first set the stage for Zimbabwe's victory by smashing five fours and as many sixes in his breathtaking knock of 82 from 48 as they recovered from 37 for three to 174 for seven in their allotted 20 overs after being sent in to bat first.

The 36-year-old all-rounder then claimed one wicket for 22 runs with his off-spin to complement some fine work by Zimbabwe's seam trio of Blessing Muzarabani, Richard Ngarava, and Tendai Chatara as Ireland were restricted to 143 for nine in reply.

Earlier Ireland captain Andy Balbirnie opted to field after winning the toss and his bowlers responded well as they reduced Zimbabwe to 37 for three within the powerplay.

The duo of Regis Chakabva (0) and Wessely Madhevere (22) were found wanting against left-arm pacer Josh Little's pace and bounce while skipper Craig Ervine was dismissed by leg spinner  Simi Singh for just nine runs.

And as he has so often done, Raza responded by sharing a crucial stand of 42 runs for the fourth wicket with Sean Williams.

Unfortunately, Williams was brilliantly caught at the boundary of Singh's bowling in the 11th over of the innings as Ireland appeared to claw their way back into the match.

Crucially for Zimbabwe, they simply had no answers against Raza who took their bowling attack apart with a dominant batting display.

Raza played right until the end of Zimbabwe's innings but he was cleaned up while going for a big shot in the very last delivery.

By then he had already done enough to lay the foundation for the competitive total of 174 for seven, which looked unlikely at one point.

Seamer Richard Ngarava ensured Zimbabwe seized complete control of the game as he removed the dangerous Paul Stirling from the second delivery of the innings before discussing  Lorcan Tucker in the very next over.

Blessing Muzarabani hardly looked like a player returning from a long-term injury as he followed up with the wickets of Harry Tector and Andrew Balbirnie in the very next over to reduce Ireland to 22/4.

The duo of Curtis Campher (27) and George Dockrell (24) tried their best to lead Ireland's recovery but their 42-run partnership was broken when Raza came on to bowl and cleaned Dockrell up completely.

Zimbabwe could have won by an even bigger margin were guilty of dropping a couple of catches late on which helped Ireland bat out their 20 overs.

Gareth Delaney (24) and Barry McCarthy (22*) tried to get Ireland close to the target but they still fell short by 31 runs as Zimbabwe coasted to a dominant win on their return to the World Cup since 2016.

Zimbabwe are now well poised to progress to the Super 12 for the first time in the country's history as they need one win from their last two first-round matches against West Indies on Wednesday and Scotland on Friday.