William Porterfield pride as Ireland wrap up ODI clean sweep over Zimbabwe

O’Brien got Ireland over the line at Stormont as they chased down 191 with the minimum of fuss to prevail by six wickets with 52 balls to spare.

Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat, but Tim Murtagh, who took a first international five-wicket haul in the second game of the series, led the way once again with a return of three for 39 as the hosts restricted the tourists to 190.

Only Sean Williams provided real resistance with a knock of 67 before he was run out, although Richmond Mutumbami and Kyle Jarvis both scored 28 as the tail wagged fleetingly until Boyd Rankin removed the pair.

Ireland lost opener Paul Stirling for 32 in the 13th over and Andy Balbirnie for five with Zimbabwe making a fight of it, and James McCollum’s departure for 54 with the score on 110 for three gave them further encouragement.

Skipper William Porterfield looked to be steering the ship home until he was bowled by Ryan Burl for 49 with 32 still required, but O’Brien and Lorcan Tucker, who hit the winning run, finished the job.

“What pleased us today was our general attitude – we went hard and once we were on top we never let off,” said Porterfield, who registered his 4,000th run in ODIs for Ireland. “Murts (Tim Murtagh) just keeps doing it,

“Milestones are things maybe you might tick off, some things you might look back in years to come and be pleased with, but the series win 3-0 was the first real thing I was focusing on.”