Brilliant fast bowling by Blessing Muzarabani, who became the first pace bowler to take seven wickets in an innings for Zimbabwe, gave this Test match at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo a sensational start on Thursday as Ireland collapsed to 31 for five.
However, the tourists staged a recovery to reach a total of 260.
By the close of play, Zimbabwe had made a solid start in their reply, finishing at 72 for one.
With Craig Ervine withdrawing before the match due to a family emergency, Zimbabwe handed the captaincy to debutant Johnathan Campbell, who led a side featuring fellow newcomers Nick Welch and Nyasha Mayavo.
Campbell’s father, Alistair, captained Zimbabwe between 1996 and 1999.
Excluding a country’s inaugural Test, the last debutant appointed as Test captain was Neil Brand for South Africa in New Zealand last year.
Ireland won the toss and elected to bat on a hot, sunny day and former Zimbabwean batter PJ Moor opened their innings alongside his captain, Andy Balbirnie.
The tourists had a shaky start.
In the first over, Moor edged a four through the slips off Muzarabani but miscued the final delivery, looping a short ball into the hands of Ben Curran at slip.
Richard Ngarava struck in his second over when Curtis Campher (6) attempted a pull shot to a ball that was not short enough, dragging it onto his stumps – 17 for two.
In the next over, Muzarabani struck again as Balbirnie popped a catch to short leg, departing for nine – 19 for three.
Two overs later, Harry Tector edged a superb delivery from Muzarabani to Takudzwanashe Kaitano at slip – 20 for four.
Muzarabani then made it three wickets in three overs and four in five, as Paul Stirling, often a thorn in Zimbabwe’s side, edged a short lifting ball into the slips.
He was out for 10, leaving Ireland reeling at 31 for five.
After six overs, Muzarabani had remarkable figures of four for 23, with Ireland’s top five contributing a mere 29 runs.
Lorcan Tucker and Andy McBrine began a fightback, capitalising on some loose deliveries to push the score along.
Tucker became overaggressive when Trevor Gwandu came on for his first over, smashing the second and third deliveries for four before playing the next ball onto his stumps while attempting another boundary.
He departed for 33 off 28 balls, leaving Ireland at 82 for six.
Mark Adair joined McBrine and steadied the innings, taking Ireland to 111 for six at lunch.
After the interval, both batters played positively.
Adair, dropped twice, reached his fifty off only 47 balls, while McBrine followed suit, reaching his half-century off 94 deliveries.
Muzarabani finally removed Adair for 78 off 91 balls, including 13 fours.
A short, wide delivery tempted Adair into a slash, edging it behind to Mayavo for his first Test catch.
The 127-run partnership had rescued Ireland, lifting them to 209 for seven.
Muzarabani struck again in his next over, dismissing Barry McCarthy for a duck with a short ball that glanced off the glove to short leg.
Tea was taken at 211 for eight, with McBrine unbeaten on 57.
After the break, Muzarabani claimed his seventh wicket when Craig Young, attempting an ill-advised pull shot, was caught at short leg for five.
With last man Matthew Humphreys at the crease, McBrine hit out boldly, nearing a century before Ngarava wrapped up the innings with a simple caught-and-bowled dismissal.
McBrine was left stranded on a fine 90 off 132 balls, including 12 fours.
Ireland’s total of 260 was a remarkable recovery from 82 for six, though Zimbabwe’s bowlers had failed to press home their early advantage.
The exception was Muzarabani, who returned outstanding figures of seven for 58 in 18 overs.
Only Paul Strang, with eight for 109 against New Zealand in 2000/01 at Queens, has produced a better innings analysis for Zimbabwe, although Sikandar Raza also took seven wickets in an innings against Sri Lanka in 2019/20.
Now it was Zimbabwe’s turn to bat, featuring an inexperienced line-up missing Ervine and Sean Williams, still battling for full fitness.
Kaitano and Curran put on 26 for the first wicket before Curran (12) edged a shot and was well caught low down by Tucker off McCarthy’s bowling.
Welch joined Kaitano and played impressively on his Test debut, striking some fine boundaries.
At stumps, Welch remained unbeaten on 33, while Kaitano, more cautious, had 26, setting up an intriguing second day.
Ireland – 260 all out in 56.4 overs (Andy McBrine 90*, Mark Adair 78, Lorcan Tucker 33; Blessing Muzarabani 7/58, Richard Ngarava 2/65, Trevor Gwandu 1/53)
Zimbabwe – 72-1 in 21 overs (Nick Welch 33*, Takudzwanashe Kaitano 26*, Ben Curran 12; Barry McCarthy 1/25)
Day 1 – Stumps: Zimbabwe trail by 188 runs
