Ben Curran’s maiden ODI ton leads Zimbabwe to 2-1 series win

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Zimbabwe 246 for 1 (Curran 118*, Ervine 69*, Bennett 48) beat Ireland 240 for 6 (Balbirnie 64, Tucker 61, Tector 51, Ngarava 2-42, Gwandu 2-44) by nine wickets

Ben Curran beat his brothers Sam and Tom to become the first sibling in the family to score an international century. His unbeaten 118 helped Zimbabwe seal their first ODI series win since March 2023, their first against a Full Member team since August 2022, and their first against Ireland in nearly ten years.

Curran came in on the back of low scores in the first two ODIs, but showed exactly why he’s rated so highly while leading Zimbabwe to their target of 241 with 63 balls to spare. As the Harare pitch eased out in the afternoon, he stroked his way to a 38-ball half-century – hitting nine of his 14 fours during that initial burst – before settling into a more relaxed pace as his captain Craig Ervine glided his way to an unbeaten 69 off 59 balls. Curran added an unbroken 122 with Ervine for the second wicket, having first put on a 124-run opening stand with Brian Bennett.

It was a perfect day for the hosts from the time Ervine won the toss and elected to field. Ireland’s innings never got going despite fifties from Andy Balbirnie, Harry Tector, and Lorcan Tucker. Zimbabwe only used five bowlers, with Richard Ngarava and Trevor Gwandu, who picked up two wickets each, applying constant pressure across all phases of the innings.

Curran played his shots fearlessly from ball one – his attempted flick off that ball flew away off the leading edge, but it didn’t discourage him from cutting the next ball for four. Mark Adair, who bowled that first over, was on the receiving end again in the fifth as Curran and Bennett hit him for three fours.

There were middled pulls, edged slashes, and swipes down the ground as the openers hit Ireland’s bowlers off their lengths. Curran’s scooped four off Graham Hume in the eighth over was a highlight. From overs five to ten, Zimbabwe hit 12 fours while scoring 60 runs off 36 balls. They finished the first powerplay at 77 for 0 with Curran batting on 54.

The introduction of spin and a 30-minute rain interruption did not break the flow of the batters or affect the conditions. If anything, the pitch got even better for batting.

Bennett fell to Hume, against the run of play, in the 20th over. He missed the flick, got hit on the pad, and was given out lbw despite height seeming to be an issue on replay. DRS is not available for the series, so Bennett had to walk.

Ervine hit a four and a six within his first ten balls. The four was off a length ball from Hume that he directed through the slips with a tap on its head, and the six an effortless flick off Andy McBrine. The run flow was constant as Zimbabwe cruised to 151 for 1 in 25 overs.

McBrine tried to buy wickets by bowling slower and fuller but that didn’t bring any reward as the game kept slipping away from Ireland, with Ervine chipping him over cover and flicking him over midwicket for successive fours in the 28th over. His flowing on-drive for six off Harry Tector in the 33rd was even better, and arguably the shot of the day. He brought up his fifty and Zimbabwe’s 200 soon after with a single to long-on.

Meanwhile, Curran coasted towards his hundred. His 10th boundary came off his 40th ball, his 11th off his 65th – when he was on 66 – and his 12th off his 127th – with his score now 108*. He went from 80 to 100 via 18 singles and a two, and even played out a maiden on 99, before bringing up the maiden hundred off his 120th ball, much to his delight and that of his team-mates and the fans in attendance.

This article was originally published by Espncricinfo.com. Read the original article here.

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