The firsts of any good thing good are always unforgettable and tend to hold a special place in the heart. Test debutant Nick Welch could’ve felt a similar way in the first Test between Ireland and Zimbabwe if not for a tremendous flying catch from Harry Tector at the edge of the boundary ropes.
Opting to bat first after a successful outing during the toss, Ireland posted 260 runs on the board as the lower-middle order fought adversity with Andy McBrine and Mark Adair scoring fifties. In response, Zimbabwe lost wickets regularly and could not have gained a seven runs lead at the end of the second innings if not for Welch’s fighting 90. However, the debutant failed to join the elusive list of centurions on debutant due to an incredible catch from Tector.
Welch was steadily moving towards his century despite losing out on partners when he tried to pull a banged in short stuff from Mark Adair on the second ball of the 63rd over. He got it flat and towards the right of long on but Tector at the deep sprinted to his right in quick time and dived sideways to pluck it out of thin air. Certainly, the Irish players were jubilant with the much-needed wicket but the batter looked in disbelief after missing out on a deserving century
Hawk mode!
