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Ngarava shines as Zimbabwe beat Ireland

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DUBLIN – Richard Ngarava defended five off the last over to give Zimbabwe a tense, three-run win in the series opener against Ireland.

Zimbabwe have only defended one total lower than their 117 in Dublin today – 105 against West Indies in February 2010. The win was also Craig Ervine’s first as T20 captain.

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After a batting performance riddled with problems, with only Regis Ch akabva scoring more than 20, Zimbabwe’s spinners Wellington Masakadza and Ryan Burl shared five wickets between them, and conceded just 40 runs, to keep Zimbabwe in the contest.

Luke Jongwe took 2 for 17 to reduce Ireland to 88 for 7, leaving the eighth-wicket pair of Simi Singh and Barry McCarthy to finish the job.

Ireland needed 18 runs off the last three overs, 12 off the last two and six off the final over, but Ngarava held his nerve at the end.

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His first ball was a yorker that Singh could not dig out, his second was quicker and Singh missed and his third was flicked away for one.

With five needed off the last three, McCarthy walked across his stumps to try and ramp the ball over short fine leg but was bowled.

Craig Young was run-out at the non-striker’s end off the penultimate ball before the last delivery, a low full-toss, cost just one run to give Zimbabwe victory.

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Zimbabwe’s openers had a dismal start to the series and were both dismissed in the first 17 balls, playing lazy shots against a fired-up Craig Young.

Wessley Madhevere was unable to build on his form from earlier in the year and the first to go, jabbing at the last ball of the opening opener, to give debutant Neil Rock his first (and what may end up being one of his easiest) catch in international cricket.

After he had a scored a single in the first over, Tadiwanashe Marumani looked like a sitting duck as he negotiated the second over from Barry McCarthy. He inside-edged the first ball, missed the next three and then finally found some defence to face a maiden.

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The pressure got to him and Marumani tried to get a move on when he danced down the track in an attempt to heave Young over the leg side, but the quick saw him coming, dragged the length back and had him caught at slip.

Young’s opening spell yielded 2 for 5.

After the opening blunders, Regis Chakabhva helped Zimbabwe recover, sharing the best partnerships of the innings – 38 with Dion Myers and 30 with Craig Ervine.

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He gave Zimbabwe their most profitable over against Curtis Campher, who he pulled through midwicket, pounded through point and tucked down to fine leg for three boundaries in his first four balls.

Campher’s first over in this format cost 16 runs all told. Chakabva’s best shot, however, was the six he hit off Singh, when he went down on one knee to send the spinner over midwicket.

By then, Chakabva made sure Zimbabwe had a stable foundation at 79 for 4 in 12 over. But he didn’t read Singh’s wrong ‘un, in the 13th over, and was bowled. He would have been disappointed to fall one short of equalling his score in the format and three shy of a first T20I fifty.

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Paul Stirling and Kevin O’Brien are at polar opposite places in terms of form and it showed. Stirling, who is coming off a tournament-winning knock in the Hundred, swept the third ball he faced over square leg for four.

On the other hand, O’Brien, who has scored just two runs in his last three T20I innings, was tentative putting bat on ball.

He was beaten four times by Ngarava’s first six balls and then watched Stirling flat-bat the first ball he faced from Tendai Chatara over point for four and cut the third one for four more.

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Stirling had scored 14 off 12 by the time O’Brien got his first run, a single off the ninth delivery he faced.

Stirling then got two more boundaries, to deepen the difference between them.

It was only after Stirling misjudged Jongwe’s length and was bowled that O’Brien found his stride.

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He hit Masakadza over extra cover for four for his first boundary in four matches.

He found the rope two more times in his 32-ball innings.

Stirling’s dismissal gave Zimbabwe an opportunity to fight their way back and they were able to, thanks largely to, their legspinner, Burl.

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He bowled with good pace and surprised captain Andy Balbirnie with a quick, flat delivery that pinned him on the front pad and then removed George Dockrell and O’Brien with successive balls to leave Ireland on 65 for 4.

Dockrell was caught at long-off trying to clear the rope and O’Brien was bowled when he missed a ball that turned into him.

The hat-trick delivery was to Campher, who managed a single but Burl had given Zimbabwe an opening.

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He finished with 3 for 22, by which time fellow spinner Masakadza had two wickets.

Campher holed out to deep midwicket and Shane Getkate was caught reverse-sweeping, at third man.- ESPNCrickInfo

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National

Coal train in flames: NRZ locomotive damaged in fire incident

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BY WANDILE TSHUMA 

A National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) locomotive suffered significant damage after catching fire while transporting export coal to Zambi. The incident occurred between Kalala and Matetsi sidings, resulting in the explosion of the locomotive’s fuel tanks.

According to the NRZ press statement on Monday, “A National Railways of Zimbabwe locomotive suffered some damages after it caught fire this afternoon while transporting export coal to Zambia.” Fortunately, the crew members on board managed to escape unharmed.

The NRZ responded swiftly to the incident, dispatching a rescue train with crews to the site. The team successfully extinguished the fire, preventing further damage. However, the locomotive itself sustained considerable damage.

The cause of the fire is yet to be determined, with investigations currently underway. “Investigations are already underway to establish the cause of the fire and the amount of damage to the locomotive,” the NRZ statement read.

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In the community

Human-wildlife conflict claims 18 lives in Zimbabwe’s first quarter

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BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI 

The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZimParks) has reported a disturbing trend of human-wildlife conflict in the country’s first quarter of 2025. According to the authority, 18 people have lost their lives, and 32 others have been injured in encounters with wildlife.

ZimParks spokesperson Tinashe Farawo revealed that the authority received 579 cases of human-wildlife conflict, which they managed to respond to promptly. The incidents have also resulted in significant livestock losses, with at least 53 cattle and 85 goats killed by wildlife.

The districts most affected by these incidents include Binga, Hwange, Kariba, Chiredzi, Hurungwe, Nyaminyami, and Mbire. ZimParks has been working tirelessly to raise awareness about wildlife behaviors and effective preventive measures in these areas.

In response to the crisis, ZimParks has translocated 129 animals back into protected areas and eliminated 158 animals deemed problematic.

“We encourage communities to continue reporting incidents to ZimParks Problem Animal Control numbers and local leadership, such as Councillors, Traditional Leaders, and Rural District Council Authorities, to ensure that we preserve lives,” Farawo urged.

The significant increase in livestock losses, with cattle deaths rising from 18 to 53 and goat deaths from 21 to 85 compared to the same period in 2024, highlights the growing challenge of human-wildlife conflict in Zimbabwe.

ZimParks’ efforts to mitigate the conflict include community initiatives to educate people on managing wildlife encounters effectively.

 

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Tens of Thousands in Zimbabwe Go Hungry as the Rains — and US Aid — Hold Back

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Tanayeishe Musau eats baobab porridge after school at his home in Mudzi, Zimbabwe, where the dish has become a daily staple amid worsening drought and hunger. Once a simple supplement, baobab porridge is now a primary meal for families like his, following widespread food shortages and the suspension of international aid.

BY LINDA MUJURU

This story was originally published by Global Press Journal.

Agnes Tauzeni stands on her parched field. She is a mother to two children, and is expecting another. But now, in a time that might otherwise have been joyful, her hopes wither like the struggling crops before her.

 

Three times she’s gambled on the rains; three times the sky has betrayed her. Her first two plantings failed. The soil was too dry to sustain life. Though her third attempt yielded a few weak shoots, they offered little promise of a meaningful harvest. El Niño-driven droughts have disrupted once-reliable rains, leaving Tauzeni’s family and many like hers struggling to feed themselves.

 

“I am always hungry,” Tauzeni says.

 

She worries about the health of her unborn child, based on how little nutrition she consumes herself.

 

Adding to this, food aid, previously funded by the US Agency for International Development, halted suddenly in January. That transformed what was already a struggle into a desperate battle for survival.

 

The food aid ended when US President Donald Trump, on his first day in office, issued an executive order that paused nearly all US foreign aid, most of which was administered by USAID. That agency is now all but defunct.

 

Food aid in Zimbabwe was an ongoing area of funding for USAID. In November 2024, the agency announced $130 million for two seven-year programs, implemented by CARE and Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture, that would provide food aid and other related support to areas of Zimbabwe most in need. The programs, which stopped, were just part of an ongoing slate of activities designed to help Zimbabwe’s neediest people.

 

About 7.6 million people in Zimbabwe — nearly half the country’s population — need humanitarian assistance, according to a 2025 UNICEF report. Of those, nearly 6 million, like Tauzeni, rely on subsistence farming.

 

Through the support of organizations with funding from USAID, people previously received cereals, edible seeds, oil and food vouchers.

 

“A sudden withdrawal can put the entire community in a dire situation,” says Hilton Mbozi, a seed systems and climate change expert.

 

Tauzeni recalls that her community used to receive food supplies such as beans, cooking oil and peanut butter to help combat malnutrition.

 

When Tauzeni got married in 2017, her fields promised abundance. Her harvests were plentiful, and her family never lacked food. Now, those memories feel like whispers from another world. The past two agricultural seasons, those harvests have been devastatingly poor.

 

With an empty granary and dwindling options, Tauzeni’s family survives on the same food every day: baobab porridge in the morning and sadza with wild okra in the evening. But Tauzeniworries whether even this will be on the table in the coming months.

 

“The little maize I have, I got after weeding someone else’s crops, but that won’t take us far,” she says.

 

Tauzeni says a 20-kilogram (44-pound) bag of maize costs US$13 in her village, an amount out of reach for her. Her only source of income is farming. When that fails, she has no money at all.

 

Hunger like Tauzeni experiences is widespread. Some families now eat just once a day.

 

Headman David Musau, leader of Musau village where Tauzenilives, says some people in his village did not plant any seeds this season, fearing losses due to the low rainfall. The government provides food aid inconsistently, usually 7 kilograms (15 pounds) of wheat per person for three months.

 

“It’s not enough, but it helps,” he says.

 

But without any other food aid, survival is at stake, he says. “People will die in the near future.”

 

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