Ireland was 33-5 at the start of day four, considerably short of the 158 required to win the Test match.
However, they won the Tests back-to-back thanks to an incredible 96-run partnership between Lorcan Tucker (56 runs) and Andy McBrine (55 not out).
“We spoke in the dressing room last night about how we had two of the best Test batsmen at the crease and that we still believed we could win,” Balbirnie, the opener, said.
“The ups and downs in a Test match add to its beauty. Although Saturday night was a difficult watch, we are happy that today we received our benefits for our four days of diligent work.
McBrine, a guy from Donemana, was named player of the match after taking seven wickets in the inaugural Test match played in Northern Ireland.
The 31-year-old stated, “I’m proud to be from the north-west, so to be involved in this win is special.”
It’s great to see that our hard work paid off with seven wickets, as I worked with the bowling coaches and we all put in a lot of preparation for this.
Craig Ervine, the captain of Zimbabwe, expressed disappointment that his team lost a fantastic chance to win a Test match for the first time since 2021.
“We gave ourselves a good platform in both innings, but our lower order let us down a little bit with some cheap wickets,” he stated.
