Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor won the toss and elected to field against Ireland in their World Cup Pool B match at Bellerive Oval, Hobart earlier today.
Its a ‘must win’ situation as Defeat for Zimbabwe would mean they would be unable to qualify for the quarter-finals as it would leave them with two points, with only one group match left to play.
Ireland, a non-Test nation, currently have four points from three matches and will still have a shot of qualifying for the last eight regardless of Saturday’s result.
Taylor was leading Zimbabwe after regular skipper Elton Chigumbura was ruled out of this match with a thigh injury suffered while fielding in the Africans’ preceding 20-run defeat by Pakistan.
Chigumbura’s place was taken by Regis Chakabva as Zimbabwe, who’ve only beaten the part-timers of the UAE at this World Cup so far, went in search of their second win.
Ireland also entered this match on the back of a defeat, their first of this World Cup, following a 201-run thrashing by South Africa.
They dropped Max Sorensen, who had an expensive return of none for 76 against South Africa, and brought in fellow seamer Alex Cusack.
When the teams last met at the World Cup, Ireland and Zimbabwe played out a thrilling tie at Sabina Park, Kingston, during the 2007 edition in the Caribbean.
Ireland: William Porterfield (capt), Paul Stirling, Ed Joyce, Niall O’Brien, Andrew Balbirnie, Gary Wilson (wkt), Kevin O’Brien, John Mooney, Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Andrew McBrine
Zimbabwe: Chamu Chibhabha, Sikandar Raza, Solomon Mire, Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor (capt/wkt), Sean Williams, Craig Ervine, Regis Chakabva, Tawanda Mupariwa, Tinashe Panyangara, Tendai Chatara
Umpires: Paul Reiffel (AUS), Ruchira Palliyaguru (SRI)
TV umpire: Joel Wilson (WIS)
Match referee: Roshan Mahanama (SRI)
Weather: Cool, cloudy, maximum temperature of 21 degrees.
