Ireland's Cusack takes two wickets in last over to knock out Zimbabwe
HOBART - Cusack took two wickets in three balls in the final over as Ireland knocked Zimbabwe out of the World Cup with a thrilling five-run win in their Pool B match at Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Saturday.
The African side, chasing Ireland's total of 331 for eight, were bowled out for 326 with three balls remaining to become the first test-playing nation to be ruled out of contention for a place in the quarter-finals.With Zimbabwe needing just seven runs in the last over, Cusack (4-32) took a wicket on his first and third balls. Brendan Taylor (121), leading Zimbabwe in place of injured captain Elton Chigumbura, hit his seventh one-day international hundred and combined in a 159-run stand with Sean Williams (96) but their efforts were not enough. Ed Joyce hit his first World Cup century while Andy Balbirnie contributed with a 97 to help Ireland to a hefty total after they were put in to bat first.
Scoreboard Ireland Innings W. Porterfield c H. Masakadza b Williams 29 P. Stirling c Williams b Panyangara 10 E. Joyce c Ervine b Chatara 112 A. Balbirnie run out (Chakabva, Taylor) 97 N. O'Brien c Chakabva b Chatara 24 G. Wilson c Chakabva b Williams 25 J. Mooney b Williams 10 K. O'Brien c Panyangara b Chatara 2 G. Dockrell not out 5 A. Cusack not out 2 Extras (lb-4 nb-3 w-8) 15 Total (for 8 wickets, 50 overs) 331 Fall of wickets: 1-16 P. Stirling,2-79 W. Porterfield,3-217 E. Joyce,4-276 K. O'Brien,5-308 G. Wilson,6-319 J. Mooney,7-322 N. O'Brien,8-326 A. Balbirnie Did not bat: A. McBrine Bowling T. Panyangara 9 - 0 - 69 - 1(nb-1 w-1) T. Chatara 10 - 0 - 61 - 3(nb-1 w-4) T. Mupariwa 10 - 0 - 56 - 0(w-1) S. Raza 9 - 0 - 51 - 0 S. Williams 9 - 0 - 72 - 3(nb-1 w-2) H. Masakadza 3 - 0 - 18 - 0 Zimbabwe Innings C. Chibhabha c Porterfield b Cusack 18 S. Raza c Stirling b J. Mooney 12 S. Mire c Cusack b Dockrell 11 H. Masakadza c Wilson b K. O'Brien 5 B. Taylor c K. O'Brien b Cusack 121 S. Williams c J. Mooney b K. O'Brien 96 C. Ervine c K. O'Brien b McBrine 11 R. Chakabva b Cusack 17 T. Panyangara c Porterfield b J. Mooney 5 T. Mupariwa c Porterfield b Cusack 18 T. Chatara not out 1 Extras (lb-8 nb-1 w-2) 11 Total (all out, 49.3 overs) 326 Fall of wickets: 1-32 S. Raza,2-32 C. Chibhabha,3-41 H. Masakadza,4-74 S. Mire,5-223 B. Taylor,6-259 C. Ervine,7-300 S. Williams,8-305 T. Panyangara,9-325 R. Chakabva,10-326 T. Mupariwa Bowling A. Cusack 9.3 - 2 - 32 - 4(w-1) J. Mooney 10 - 0 - 58 - 2(w-1) K. O'Brien 10 - 0 - 90 - 2 G. Dockrell 10 - 0 - 56 - 1 A. McBrine 8 - 0 - 56 - 1 P. Stirling 2 - 0 - 26 - 0(nb-1) Referees Umpire: Ruchira Palliyaguruge Umpire: Paul Reiffel. –Reuters TV umpire: Joel Wilson Match referee: Roshan Mahanama Result: Ireland won by 5 runs
