CRICKET: Waringstown's Cara Murray makes debut as Ireland lose to Zimbabwe

Waringstown teenager Cara Murray's senior international debut ended on a losing note as Ireland Women lost their tour opener to Zimbabwe in a rain affected contest in Harare.

The 17 year-old all-rounder, who has also played for Saintfield, showed her batting prowess with an unbeaten 14 as Ireland recovered from a disastrous start recovering from 99 for 7 to post 173.

She shared an unbroken 8th wicket stand of 74 in just 68 balls with Shauna Kavanagh who hit 5 sixes and 5 fours in a powerful top score of 79 from 118 balls.

Two rain interruptions meant a DLS adjusted target of 140 in 33 overs for Zimbabwe, which proved little trouble for the hosts as skipper Chipo Mugeri hit an unbeaten 64 in a seven-wicket win.

Sophie MacMahon, also making her debut, grabbed two wickets to give the scorecard some respectability but Ireland looked rusty on their first game since August. Leg-spinner Murray went wicket-less but showed enough talent to suggest a bright future at this level.