A wicketless first session gave the impression that Zimbabwe would dominate the first ever day of Test cricket in Northern Ireland, but Ireland took all ten wickets in just over 40 overs to vindicate Andy Balbirnie’s decision to bowl first on an overcast morning.

Barry McCarthy’s relentless eight-over spell after lunch denied Joylord Gumbie a half-century, left Dion Myers looking clueless, and set up a 65-run session where the visitors couldn’t get away. Curtis Campher blew hot and cold but dismissed Prince Masyaure. the top scorer with 74, allowing Andy McBrine to run through the lower half of the middle order.

Zimbabwe had their share of soft dismissals, and the risks their batters took, particularly after tea, backfired as they lost their last six wickets for 17 runs. A second spell of rain came amid the change of innings and took out about half an hour, which was enough for the umpires to call stumps.

Zimbabwe had the upper hand going into the evening session despite losing three wickets in the afternoon. The sun had peeked out, and Sean Williams was off and running. Campher was bowling the odd beauty, but it was an innocuous back-of-a-length ball going down leg that strangled Masvaure.

Williams continued to take on McBrine despite Masvaure falling, and hit two fours. The offspinner did create a chance in the 59th over, but McCarthy, running back from mid-on, spilled it. But Balbirnie was rewarded for keeping McBrine on as he turned one away to have Williams edge to slip.

An adventurous first-ball swipe from Clive Madande, trying to pump the spinner down the ground, found mid-off. A bouncer from Mark Adair had Brian Bennett edge a pull to the wicketkeeper as Zimbabwe lost two wickets with the score on 193, and the next on 194. The bowling duo took another wicket each before McCarthy closed out the innings. McBrine, who started the session with the ball, bowled 11 straight overs and took 3 for 32.

The initial damage was done after lunch. Gumbie and Masvaure, Zimbabwe’s openers, had batted through a session, softened the new ball and were inching towards a hundred stand. But Gumbie, who went into lunch unbeaten on 49, fell after facing 11 dots as he clipped a leg-stump half volley from McCarthy to Campher at square leg. Four balls later, a brief rain break forced players off the field.

Masvaure was getting off strike as the bowlers strayed down leg often. A flick to fine leg was what brought up the opener’s fifty, even as Dion Myers took 14 balls to get off the mark. But Myers pulled Adair for two fours amid leaving balls with exaggerated rotations.

But McCarthy bowled a legbreak, angling the ball in before straightening it off the pitch, to Myers to hit the top of off stump. He took two wickets and gave away 14 runs in an eight-over spell. Craig Ervine couldn’t get going, and the first aerial shot he played was a pull that went straight to McBrine at deep-backward square leg. Masvaure, who made 35 in both sessions, was solid all the while.

Thick grey clouds, a bit of grass on the pitch, and lush outfield. The conditions couldn’t have been better for the seamers in the morning. But Gumbie and Masvaure saw off the new ball. Gumbie’s early movement across the crease to work the ball leg side resembled Steven Smith’s batting style and allowed him to score off balls in and around the fifth-stump line. Masvaure was more orthodox but just as compact to help see off McCarthy and Adair’s new-ball spell.

There were a few nervy moments in the first hour. Gumbie was hit on the pad while offering no shot off McCarthy in the second over but was saved by the bounce. He edged Adair to deep third for four off the next over, fended one that reared off the pitch over the slips in the eighth, and was beaten by a jaffa that straightened off a full length in the 11th.

But Gumbie, who hit the first six fours of the innings, was often able to cover the line and duck under the odd bouncer. The tension built up by Adair and Young’s consecutive maidens was dissipated in the following two overs where Masvaure drove overpitched balls. The let-off balls between the good ones allowed Zimbabwe to turn strike and go into lunch unbeaten. But loose batting and luck combined to wreck Zimbabwe’s advantage as they lost all ten wickets for 113 runs.

Brief scores:
Zimbabwe 210 in 71.3 overs  (Prince Masvaure 74, Joylord Gumbie 49, Sean Williams 35, Mark Adair 2-49, Andy McBrine 3-37, Barry  McCarthy 3-42) vs Ireland