A whirlwind unbeaten 30 by Ryan Burl lifted Zimbabwe to a 2-1 Twenty20 series victory over Ireland in Harare on Sunday.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ireland were put in to bat and made 141-9 with Harry Tector top scoring on 47 as they sought to buck a trend in this series of the side fielding first winning.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Captain Craig Ervine scored 54 to lift Zimbabwe to 116-5 with three overs remaining and Burl effectively finished the match off, hammering two sixes and three fours off 11 deliveries.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Luke Jongwe hit the last ball of the penultimate over for four to take Zimbabwe to 144-6, and a four-wicket triumph.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
It was a dramatic end to a series that began with a five-wicket win for Zimbabwe on Thursday, followed by a six-wicket victory for the tourists two days later.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It's a great place to be at the moment, winning a series against Ireland with some of your lesser experienced players. It's very exciting for the future," said Ervine.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"The guys are confident ahead of the one-day international series (starting on Wednesday. We might get Sikandar Raza and Gary Ballance back."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Prolific run getter Raza has been playing franchise cricket in Bangladesh while former England batter Ballance missed the last two T20 internationals due to mild concussion.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
"It's exciting, it's always good to have that winning momentum and we will try hard to keep that up."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Ireland skipper Andy Balbirnie said: "We came here to win the series, so it's disappointing that we haven't."<\/p>\r\n\r\n
After the cheap loss of opener Tadiwanashe Marumani (5), Ervine took charge with a knock that included six fours.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
His innings ended when he was caught by Curtis Campher attempting a cover drive off a short-pitched ball from Mark Adair.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Spinner Ben White (2-26) and fast medium pacer Barry McCarthy (2-32) were the most successful Irish bowlers.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Batting at No. 4, Tector rescued the tourists, who had slumped to 19-3 having faced just 23 deliveries.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
He put on 70 runs before being separated from Campher, the second highest Irish scorer with 27.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Tector departed next, adding a further six runs before his middle stump was uprooted by off-spinner Wesley Madhevere, the most successful Zimbabwe bowler with two wickets for eight runs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n