Craig Young grabbed four wickets as Ireland fought hard to defend an inadequate total of 137-8 in Harare but Zimbabwe just shaded a seesaw battle by three wickets to take a 1-0 lead with one to play in the T20 international series.

Young, who was a late replacement in the T20 squad for the injured Mark Adair, looked in rhythm as he took 2-15 on Saturday in the first clash that was rained off after nine overs of the home side’s innings.

The big man from Co Tyrone took up where he left off 24 hours later with two wickets in his first over, another in his second and a fourth in his second spell as the two sides went toe-to-toe in another of their white-ball thrillers.

Zimbabwe recovered from Young’s early burst, only for Harry Tector to seized the initiative again by having Ryan Burl caught behind chasing one of his part-time off-breaks, and then holding a stunning diving catch at long off to send back Sikandar Raza.

Two more batsmen holed out — one caught by Gareth Delany at the second attempt via his boot — but the Boys in Green had neither the runs on the board nor the rub of the green with edges and mishits, to get over the line.

Although the required rate did briefly nudge above eight an over, man-of-the-match Tony Munyonga found 13 from the pivotal 18th over and was 43 not out after he hit the winning boundary with four balls to spare. 

Young returned figures of 4-24 from four overs.

“If we break it down, we were right on top in the first 10 overs of both innings, and then we let it slide,” skipper Paul Stirling said. 

“The pitch was offering a little bit of spin and we thought it might have got worse as the game went on, but they showed clearly it didn't, and they went and mopped up the runs.”

Ireland only have themselves to blame for not posting a more challenging score, having reached 99-2 in the 14th over, thanks to Lorcan Tucker’s 46 and a sumptuous 28 from Tector who was striking the ball as well as he ever has.

But the tail failed to wag, and Ireland will need to address that weakness if they are to level the series in tomorrow’s final game — a day/nighter that starts at 2:30pm Irish time.