Toss Ireland choose to bowl
Ireland won the toss and decided to bowl first on return to Test cricket at home after a gap of six years. Zimbabwe’s batters will be tested on a wet Belfast morning with a passing shower turning up about an hour before the toss. There is rain forecast on all five days, more so in the first three.
Also, this Test makes Northern Ireland the 23rd country to host a men’s Test match; the Republic of Ireland was the 22nd in 2018, when Ireland played their first Test against Pakistan in Malahide.
Ireland XI: 1 Peter Moor, 2 Andy Balbirnie (capt), 3 Curtis Campher, 4 Harry Tector, 5 Paul Stirling, 6 Lorcan Tucker (wk), 7 Andy McBrine, 8 Mark Adair, 9 Barry McCarthy, 10 Craig Young, 11 Matthew Humphreys
Zimbabwe XI: 1 Prince Masvaure, 2 Joylord Gumbie (wk), 3 Dion Myers, 4 Craig Ervine (capt), 5 Sean Williams, 6 Brian Bennett, 7 Clive Madande, 8 Blessing Muzarabani, 9 Richard Ngarava, 10 Tanaka Chivanga , 11 Tendai Chatara
