By Zim Sport Live Writer
Tony Munyonga says staying patient and the hard work he has put in domestic cricket over the past few seasons served him well as he led Zimbabwe to a three wicket victory against Ireland in the second T20I at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.
The 26-year-old right handed middle order batter was deservedly named the Player of the Match for his unbeaten knock of 43 runs off 30 balls to steer the hosts to a deserved win infront of jubilant local fans.
It was memorable moment for Munyonga, who has been in and around the fringes of national team selection since making his debut in a T20I against Bangladesh in 2019.
Munyonga earned his recall to the Zimbabwe squad for the ongoing series on the back of his solid form in the Pro50 Championship, where he sits second on the top run scorers charts.
Its been a remarkable run of good form for Munyonga as he is finally living up to the promise he showed early in his career when he made his first-class debut for the now defunct Rising Stars Academy in the Logan Cup competition seven years ago.
Munyonga reckons he had benefitted from the experience he has gained in domestic cricket.
“Obviously, having come out of scoring runs in the domestic league, getting that confidence back again, it’s not easy,” Munyonga said during the post match presentation after the second T20I.
“But coming out of scoring runs and being able to get that confidence over the line to International Cricket is good.
“I think it (domestic cricket) has really helped me a lot. I think watching a lot of cricket and playing a lot of cricket as well. I’ve played about eight years of First-class cricket. I think it’s helped me a lot. I’ve faced a lot of situations like that, so I just kept on reminding myself that I just need to keep my head down and keep on digging”
Munyonga was cool, calm and collected during his match-winning innings as he helped Zimbabwe chase down Ireland’s modest total of 137 for eight.
After coming to the crease with Zimbabwe in trouble at 62 for four in the 10th over Munyonga contributed in the 33-run sixth-wicket stand with Tashinga Musekiwa (15).
After Musekiwa perished he added another 15 runs with Wellington Masakadza.
No. 9 Richard Ngarava struck two crucial fours late in the 19th over off Young before Munyonga hit the winning runs with a thrashing through the covers.
Munyonga was delighted to get his team over the line.
“We sort of liked to put ourselves in a position where we just needed to keep on batting and get the team over the line. Obviously, that’s the end goal, but being in the process and enjoying the moment as well.
“I think that was the most important thing that we talked about (in the middle),” Munyonga said.
After his solid show in Zimbabwe’s victory with four balls to spare on Sunday Munyonga will he hoping to continue his good form in the third and final encounter remaining on Tuesday.