RAIN again was not the friend of Zimbabwe and Ireland in Harare, as rain delays saw the match end in the draw.

After Zimbabwe made 9/227 from its 50 overs, Ireland needed 203 off 43 overs but could only make 9/202.

Zimbabwe made a really strong start to its innings, putting on a 92 run opening partnership before losing its first wicket.

Then the hosts had a bit of a wobble, losing their next wicket five balls later for no extra runs. It was not until the fourth wicket where things accelerated again, with Kelis Ndhlovu and Ashley Ndiraya putting together a 57 run partnership.

None of the other partnerships quite reached that scale, but it was enough to post what would have been a pretty competitive total in a normal, non rain affected game.

Chiedza Dhururu top scored for the home side with 46, while Ndiraya and Mary-Anne Musonda each made 41 apiece.

Meanwhile for Ireland Arlene Kelly was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, while Laura Delany, Cara Murray and birthday girl Freya Sargent finished with a wicket each.

With a reduced target on the board thanks to the rain for the Irish, the Girls in Green also made an impressive start to their innings, posting 84 without loss.

However, no further partnership would be able to reach anywhere near those heights, since after that point the wickets started to tumble at a pretty consistent rate. The next highest partnership was the 47 run sixth partnership.

But the Irish kept persisting and reached the 202 target with a ball to spare, but instead of getting that last run off the final ball, Ireland lost a wicket when Jane Maguire was stumped.

Ireland’s top scores came from their openers, with Gaby Lewis making 42 and Leah Paul making 34.

Meanwhile for Zimbabwe Ndhlovu took three wickets, while Loreen Tshuma took two.

The series-deciding third ODI is tomorrow.