WATCH: Sikandar Raza, Curtis Campher's Onfield FIGHT During Tensed T20I Between Zimbabwe And Ireland Recorded On Camera

Zimbabwe beat Ireland in the 1st T20I by one wicket in what was a last-ball finish. But the tension between players had started much before the last-over thriller.

Sikandar Raza and Curtis Campher in a heated exchange. (Image: Video Screenshot)

Tempers flared during the second innings of the 1st T20I between Zimbabwe and Ireland in Harare. Zimbabwe captain Sikandar Raza and Ireland cricketer Curtis Campher almost got involved in a physical fight after a heated exchange. The fight took place during the 14th over of the chase when Raza and Joshua Little had a word after the fifth ball.

At first, it appeared Raza and Little were having a light exchange as the match moved towards a tensed end. At the end of the 13th over, Zimbabwe were 96 for 4 with Raza and Brian Bennett at the crease. They still required 52 off the 42 remaining balls. Irish players, it seems, wanted to irk Raza, who was a key wicket, as the chase was tilted towards Zimbabwe. Raza, in return, got very angry and was spotted walking towards Campher with the bat in hand. 

After Raza and Little's exchange which did not look like a spat at all, Campher joined in and passed on some words, which completely changed the expressions and body language of the Zimbabwean skipper. Raza was very animated and charged down to Campher before umpires intervened. 

Watch the fight between Raza and Campher below:

Raza vs Little & Campher#ZIMvsIRE pic.twitter.com/J57tCgQC4W

— Fantasy Cricket Pro _ (Viren Hemrajani) (@FantasycricPro) December 7, 2023

Coming to the match, Zimbabwe won the toss and decided to bowl first in conditions well-suited for the chase. The home team bowled exceptionally well and restricted Ireland to just 147 for 8 at the end of 20 overs. Raza led from the front with the ball as he finished with 3 wickets for just 28 runs from his quota of four overs. Richard Ngarava and Blessing Muzarabani got two wickets apiece. Sean Williams picked a wicket too. 

Ireland's top-scorer was Andrew Balbirnie who struck 32 off 25 balls on what was a tough batting pitch. None of the other batters to follow could bat well and as a result, Ireland had to make do with a low score.

It was still a fighting total and Ireland did fight with it. But most of the fight came from the captain Raza, who shone with both bat and ball to eventually win the Player of the Match award. Raza struck 65 off 42 balls after coming in at 21 for 2 in just the 4th over of the innings. Once he got out, Ireland looked very close to winning it from a difficult position but in the end Trevor Gwandu and Blessing Muazabani got the team home on the last ball.