Brian Bennett’s superb 169 helped Zimbabwe earn a 49-run win over Ireland in the opening one-day international in Harare.
The 21-year-old became the fourth youngest player to hit an ODI 150 as his 163-ball knock helped the hosts accumulate 299-5, with Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine contributing 66.
Bennett’s maiden ODI century came in only his seventh game.
Ireland skipper Paul Stirling is the youngest player to have notched an ODI 150 by dint of his 177 against Canada in 2010 when he was aged 20 years and four days.
After Andrew Balbirnie was dismissed from the first ball of Ireland’s reply, Stirling’s 32 and Curtis Campher’s 44 helped the tourists regroup to 109-2 only for them to slump to 169-6.
A 73-run partnership between George Dockrell (34) and Andy McBrine (32) moved Ireland to within 60 runs of the target, but they were both dismissed by Blessing Muzarabani in the space of four balls in the 45th over to effectively end Irish hopes.
Richard Ngarava, who had taken Balbirnie’s wicket, mopped up the Ireland tail as Matthew Humphreys and Josh Little departed for the addition of only three more runs.
Harry Tector (39) and Lorcan Tucker (31) also got starts for the Irish but none of their batters scored sufficiently to put Zimbabwe’s target under serious threat.
Muzarabani was the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers as he finished with 4-51, while Ngarava took 3-56 and Wesley Madhevere dismissed Tector and Mark Adair.
The three-match ODI series continues in Harare on Sunday with game two before Tuesday’s concluding contest.
Ireland’s Zimbabwe tour, which began with their Test victory in Bulawayo, will then end with a three-match T20 series in Harare.
Ireland seamer Barry McCarthy has been ruled out of the white-ball contests because of an abdominal injury and has been replaced by Jordan Neill for the remaining ODIs, with Fionn Hand drafted into the T20 squad.
Eighteen-year-old Neill, who captained Ireland at last year’s Under-19 World Cup, will link up with the squad after a short trip from South Africa where he has been playing club cricket.
