Zimbabwe Playing 11 vs Ireland - Only Test, Ireland tour of Zimbabwe 2025

Zimbabwe will look to get back to winning ways when they take on Ireland in the one-off Test this week. The match is scheduled to be played on Thursday (February 6) at the Queen Sports Club, Bulawayo.

In their last Test assignment which was the two-match series at home against Afghanistan, Zimbabwe suffered a 1-0 loss. After the first Test ended in a draw, they lost the second Test by 72 runs. Zimbabwe showed a lot of promise against Afghanistan and will be desperate to beat Ireland to return to winning ways.

The upcoming Test will only be the second Test between Zimbabwe and Ireland. The first Test between the two teams took place in Belfast last year. Ireland had won that game by 4 wickets and Zimbabwe will be keen to avenge the loss.

As Zimbabwe gears up to lock horns against Ireland, we are taking a look at the Zimbabwe Playing 11 for the 1st ZIM vs IRE Test.

Zimbabwe Playing 11 vs Ireland - Only Test, Ireland tour of Zimbabwe 2025:

Openers: Joylord Gumbie (wk), Ben Curran

Ben Curran and Joylord Gumbie are expected to be the openers in the Zimbabwe Playing 11 for the upcoming Test. Both of them had failed to get going in the last Test against Afghanistan and will be keen to turn things around against Ireland.

Curran, who made his Test debut during the two-match series against Afghanistan, scored 15 runs in the first innings. In the second innings, he once again got the start but could not last long and departed for 38 runs.

On the other hand, Gumbie scored 8 runs in the first innings before being dismissed for 15 runs in the second innings.

Middle-order batsmen and allrounders: Nick Welch, Takudzwanashe Kaitano, Craig Ervine (C), Sean Williams, Brian Bennett

Nick Welch is expected to be named in the Zimbabwe Playing 11 and make his Test debut. The top-order batsman has already played 7 T20Is for Zimbabwe but is yet to represent the country in the longest format of the game. Welch has scored more than 1200 runs in 27 first-class games including four centuries and a couple of fifties.

Takudzwanashe Kaitano will be looking to score big against Ireland after failing to do so against Afghanistan. He played in both the Tests against the Asian team but did not enjoy the best of outings. After scoring 46 and 5 in the first Test, he registered scores of 0 and 21 in the second Test.

Zimbabwe will be relying on their captain fantastic Craig Ervine to lead the charge with the bat against Ireland. Ervine led his team from the very front against Afghanistan. In 4 innings, he crossed the 50-run mark on three occasions in addition to scoring a century as well.

Sean Williams had impressed against Afghanistan as well. He started the series with knocks of 154 and 35 not out. In the second Test that Zimbabwe lost, the veteran batsman had scored 49 and 16. The onus will be on him to ensure that Zimbabwe finishes with a big score against Ireland.

Brian Bennett will be the main allrounder in the Zimbabwe Playing 11. The 21-year-old came up with a stunning display against Afghanistan in the Boxing Day Test. After scoring an unbeaten 110 runs, he had taken 5 wickets and will be hoping to deliver a similar performance against Ireland.

Bowlers: Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, Newman Nyamhuri, Vincent Msakesa

Zimbabwe are expected to play the first ZIM vs IRE Test with three frontline pacers and one spinner in Zimbabwe Playing 11. Richard Ngarava, Blessing Muzarabani, and Newman Nyamhuri will be the three pacers in the Zimbabwe Playing 11 while uncapped leg-spinner Vincent Msakesa will be the sole frontline spinner.