The Ruaraka Sports Club Ground in Nairobi witnessed history on Wednesday with Zimbabwe showing great intent right from the first ball they faced. They brought up fifty in 3.2 overs. Tadiwanashe Marumani brought his up quicker, in just 13 balls. The team hundred was up before the powerplay was done and from there on it was an exercise of how far they could send the ball into the stands. There were 57 boundaries in the innings overall – which is also a T20 record – with four Zimbabwe batters contributing fifty-plus scores – another record. Brian Bennett made 50 of 26 and Clive Mandande got to 53 off 17 by hitting the final ball of the innings for six.

Gambia, which is the smallest country in continental Africa, located to the west, could do very little to stop the run flow. Musa Jorbateh conceded the most runs by a bowler in a T20, his four overs going for 93. He was one of five bowlers to go for over 50 runs or more in their spell. The team is still looking for its first win in the Africa sub-regional qualifier so far, having given walkovers to their opponents Rwanda and Seychelles in the first two games, while Zimbabwe have already picked up four from four.

Zimbabwe go into the six-team T20 World Cup Africa Sub-Regional Qualifier B under new head coach Justin Sammons with a young squad with an average age of 26, a Zimbabwe Cricket release said. The team will be led by the experienced Sikandar Raza. The qualifier also includes Gambia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda and the Seychelles. The top two sides from these will progress to the regional final to be joined by Namibia and Uganda.

Musekiwa, 24, has just 21 T20s to his name – apart from one first-class game and 29 one-dayers – for Mid West Rhinos. His T20 high score is an unbeaten 38 and his best figures are 3 for 24 out of his total wickets tally of 10. He most recently played for Zimbabwe Emerging against the South Africa Emerging side in two one-dayers, and scored an unbeaten 51 in the second.

Maposa, 21, has featured in five first-class games for 14 wickets and is yet to play white-ball games in domestic cricket. His last series was the Logan Cup in which he played four red-ball games for Matabeleland Tuskers in January-February for 12 wickets with one five-for.

“We have picked a young squad that is good enough to make us qualify and I am confident they will deliver in Kenya,” convener of selectors David Mutendera said in the release. “If you look at the direction we are taking, with the 2026 T20 World Cup and the future in mind, we have been blooding in youngsters who will definitely do the job like they did in winning single matches against Bangladesh and India in our last two series.

“Raza is still there for now, but we had to start the process of building a younger team for the future.”

Gwandu makes a return having last played for Zimbabwe in December 2023, against Ireland at home. After playing the domestic T20 competition for Southern Rocks in March this year, he too played for Zimbabwe Emerging, but in the African Games in Accra, Ghana, where Zimbabwe won the tournament.

Raza Sikandar (cat), Akram Faraz, Bennett Brian, Burl Ryan, Gwandu Trevor, Madande Clive, Madhevere Wessly, Maposa Tinotenda, Marumani Tadiwanashe, Masakadza Wellington, Mavuta Brandon, Musekiwa Tashinga, Muzarabani Blessing, Myers Dion, Ngarava Richard

Zimbabwe’s interest, confirmed to ESPNcricinfo, comes on the back of intentions to promote themselves as a destination for big cricket after successfully hosting the last two ODI World Cup Qualifiers (in 2018 and 2023). The country last hosted a World Cup in 2003, along with South Africa and Kenya.

Since then, Zimbabwe spent several years isolated from major events, which included the Robert Mugabe regime cutting itself off from much of the world, hyperinflation, a self-imposed Test hiatus between 2005 and 2011, and the men’s team failing to qualify for two successive ODI World Cups and two of the last three T20 World Cups. The women’s team has never competed at a World Cup (neither have the UAE’s) and will not feature at this year’s event either, but Zimbabwe are eager to be neutral hosts of the tournament.

Zimbabwe will co-host the men’s Under-19 World Cup with Namibia in 2026 and the ODI World Cup with South Africa and Namibia in 2027. By then, the country will have two more international grounds with Zimbabwe Cricket and local government authorities working together to build multi-purpose facilities in Victoria Falls and Mutare.

For now, Zimbabwe can offer Harare Sports Club (which also has newly installed floodlights) and Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo as venues for the 2024 Women’s T20 World Cup. These grounds also hosted all the televised matches in the 2023 World Cup Qualifiers, with streaming games held at Takashinga Sports Club and Bulawayo Athletic Club.

The weather in Zimbabwe is expected to be a major selling point, with the country entering summer in October and minimal rain expected. India rejected the offer to host because the country will be experiencing the last of the monsoon. Sri Lanka is also understood to have fallen out of contention for weather-related reasons.

Crucially, Zimbabwe will be able to generate fairly good crowds, including school children at venues, where the maximum capacity is 10,000. A concern with the UAE as a venue is the lack of spectators in stadiums that can seat over 20,000 people. Zimbabwe are also hopeful that the relatively lower cost of hosting a tournament in their country compared to the UAE will give them an advantage when the final decision is made.

Ireland 250 (Moor 79, Chivanga 3-39, Muzarabani 3-53) and 158 for 6 (Tucker 56, McBrine 55*, Ngarava 4-53, Muzarabani 2-52) beat Zimbabwe 210 (Masvaure 74, McBrine 3-37, McCarthy 3-42) and 197 (Myers 57, McBrine 4-38) by four wickets

Zimbabwe maintained an attacking field to both batters for the best part of the first hour, filling up the slip cordon with three catchers. But that left vacant spaces in the outfield, and Ireland’s left-right combination didn’t hesitate to attack when the line was wide or the length too full. The first instance of that came as early as in the fourth ball of the morning, when Tucker reached out to a full ball slightly wide outside off, and drove for four to deep point.

The first 13 overs of the day produced 61 runs, with a boundary virtually every over. McBrine was particularly impressive on the pull, with which he got two boundaries – the first off Ngarava to beat deep-backward square-leg to the right, and the second off Muzarabani in front of square, as Ireland chipped away at the target.

Zimbabwe bowled Ngarava and Muzarabani for the first eight overs, in the hope that they would repeat their magic from the third evening. But, by then, Tucker had brought up the fifty stand by clipping Ngarava off his pads. It was a chanceless stand between the Ireland batters on Sunday, unlike what we had seen on the previous evening, when the extra bounce and movement had left their top-order batters searching for answers.

Three balls later, Ngarava finally replicated the threat of the third evening. The ball kicked up off a length at Tucker and looped up off his gloves, but fell just short of the gully fielder.

Sean Williams was then brought into the attack in the 20th over, but his left-arm spin hardly made any difference, as Tucker and McBrine ticked along steadily.

Tucker brought up his half-century when he hit Muzarabani through the covers for three to start the 24th over, and that shot brought Ireland’s requirement to below 50. Muzarabani did clean Tucker up for 56 two overs later, even as McBrine was beaten on an attempted drive, a flash, and one that kept low to hit his front pad outside leg.

It was the perfect end to what was a fantastic Test for McBrine. He picked up 3 for 37 and 4 for 38 in the two Zimbabwe innings, and had contributed 28 in Ireland’s first innings before the unbeaten half-century in the second, all of which made him the deserving Player of the Match.

Zimbabwe 210 and 12 for 0 (Gumbie 7*, Masvaure 4*) trail Ireland 250 (Moor 79, McBrine 28, Chivanga 3-39, Muzarabani 3-53) by 28 runs

The day had started quite like the first morning, with batters dominating the proceedings. Opener Andy Balbirnie scored only 19 but gave able support to Moor, who batted at top gear. Together they set the new Ireland record for the highest opening partnership of 71, and Moor also got his first fifty for Ireland, his sixth overall in Tests. The highlight of his innings was his scoring square on both sides of the pitch and none down the ground. His strokes helped Ireland rollick at 4.60 per over in a 25-over morning session that took them to 115 for 2.

Chivanga, playing only his second Test, was the most consistent of the Zimbabwe bowlers early on, and his consistent groupings on a good length, or slightly fuller, earned him just rewards. He struck with his second ball of the day in the 16th over when Balbirnie chipped a flick to square leg. He added a second in the 22nd over when his delivery squared Curtis Campher up and found the outside edge for first slip. Those two dismissals ensured the morning session wasn’t a complete knock-out for Zimbabwe.

However, the tide turned in Zimbabwe’s favour after lunch under grey skies. Chivanga trapped Harry Tector lbw for 4, and in the same over Paul Stirling – coming in at No. 5 – gloved a short ball to gully for a catch. But Stirling survived courtesy of a front-foot no-ball, and he, along with Moor, opted for attritional cricket to arrest any further collapse. The pair added 50, out of which only 30 runs came off the bat and 20 via byes and wides. Their stonewalling ended when Muzarabani tore open the Ireland middle order with two wickets in two balls that triggered more dismissals.

Moor first tickled Muzarabani’s short ball to the keeper to depart for 79. Next ball, Lorcan Tucker was out lbw for a duck with a full ball angling to beat him on the flick. Left-arm spinner Sean Williams then accounted for Stirling for 22, when he edged a ball turning away to first slip, followed by his dismissal of Mark Adair in consecutive overs.

Ireland slid from 165 for 3 to 189 for 7 in swift time, and it soon became 200 for 8 when Tendai Chatara dismissed Barry McCarthy off the last ball before tea. Muzarabani added a third at the start of the final session to leave Zimbabwe one wicket away from taking a first-innings lead, but the McBrine-Humphreys pair counterattacked after another rain break to smash 47 in 44 balls.

Toss Ireland choose to bowl vs Zimbabwe

Ireland won the toss and decided to bowl first on return to Test cricket at home after a gap of six years. Zimbabwe’s batters will be tested on a wet Belfast morning with a passing shower turning up about an hour before the toss. There is rain forecast on all five days, more so on the first three.

This is the first men’s Test in Northern Ireland.

Ireland: 1 Peter Moor, 2 Andy Balbirnie (capt), 3 Curtis Campher, 4 Harry Tector, 5 Paul Stirling, 6 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 7 Andy McBrine, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Barry McCarthy, 10 Craig Young, 11 Matthew Humphreys

Zimbabwe: 1 Prince Masvaure, 2 Joylord Gumbie (wk), 3 Dion Myers, 4 Craig Ervine (capt), 5 Sean Williams, 6 Brian Bennett, 7 Clive Madande, 8 Blessing Muzarabani, 9 Richard Ngarava, 10 Tanaka Chivanga, 11 Tendai Chatara

Of the new faces, Bennett and Campbell have only played T20Is so far, while Madande has appeared in both ODIs and T20Is.

When Zimbabwe last played Test cricket, their squad had Gary Ballance, in what became his farewell appearance after he had switched from England to Zimbabwe. The players who were part of that two-Test series but aren’t in the mix now are Chamu Chibhabha, Innocent Kaia, Tanunurwa Makoni, Milton Shumba, Tafadzwa Tsiga, Brad Evans, Brandon Mavuta, Kudzai Maunze and Donald Tiripano.

Zimbabwe squad for one-off Test in Ireland

Craig Ervine (capt), Brian Bennett, Johnathan Campbell, Tendai Chatara, Tanaka Chivanga, Joylord Gumbie (wk), Roy Kaia, Clive Madande (wk), Wellington Masakadza, Prince Masvaure, Blessing Muzarabani, Dion Myers, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Sean Williams