Zimbabwe captain Sikander Raza scored his fourth successive T20 half-century as the hosts beat Ireland in the first T20 international at the Harare Sports Club by one wicket off the final ball.

It looked as if Mark Adair would be the Ireland hero when he had Raza caught low at mid-off by skipper Paul Stirling for 65, from 42 balls – Adair's 100th T20I wicket  - to reduce Zimbabwe to 137 for eight, chasing Ireland’s 147 for eight, with eight balls remaining.

Lisburn’s new signing then took a sensational catch from the penultimate ball to leave Zimbabwe needing two to win with last man Blessing Muzarabani to face Barry McCarthy. An inside edge flew past wicket-keeper Lorcan Tucker and they ran the two to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series, which continues tomorrow.

This was the first match under the HSC floodlights and Ireland went into the game with the expected line-up – Gareth Delany, for Ben White, the only change from the last T20I, against India in August – and when Raza won the toss he asked Ireland to bat.

They enjoyed the perfect start with Andrew Balbirnie, playing his 100th T20 game for Ireland, taking 13 off the first over and he added his fourth boundary and the first six of the innings in the second over before Stirling hit three successive fours off new cap Trevor Gwandu to give Ireland 38 off three overs.

That was as good as it got as Ireland collapsed from 84 for two to 116 for eight and it needed Delany to hit 19 off the last over, including the only two other sixes in the innings, to set Zimbabwe a challenging target.

Until Adair’s magnificent penultimate ball effort, it looked as if the highlight of Ireland’s fielding would be a stunning catch by Harry Tector who held on one-handed over his head while running backwards to dismiss debutant Brian Bennett. That left Zimbabwe needing 50 from the last five overs.

Raza brought up his 50 in the next over, from 35 balls and then welcomed back McCarthy with an outrageous pull shot that flew into the packed stands at fine leg. His new partner, Clive Madande, also cleared the boundary three balls later and when he pulled McCarthy for another four next ball, suddenly the target was down to a run-a-ball from the last 18.

Josh Little kept Ireland in the game, conceding just five runs from the 18th over and also bowling Madande and then Adair, who had conceded 32 in his first three overs, had Luke Jongwe caught behind from the first ball of his last to set up the nerve-racking finale.
 
Tensions had boiled over when Raza and Little exchanged words mid-pitch and when Curtis Campher joiined in the conversation, the Zimbabwe captain 'lost his head' forcing the umpires to intervene before play could resume.
 
The remaining five matches of the tour promise to be just as fiercely contested.

Scores: Ireland 147-8 (A Balbirnie 32, G Delany 26, H Tector 24, L Tucker 21, P Stirling 14; S Raza 3-28, R Ngarava 2-23, B Musababani 2-24) Zimbabwe 148-9 (S Raza 65, W Madhevere 25, C Madande 20; J Little 2-17, C Young 2-20, M Adair 2-36, B McCarthy 2-37, G DOckrell 1-9). Zimbabwe won by 1 wicket.