Lions – 120-5 in 10 overs (Elton Chigumbura 30, Tashinga Musekiwa 26, Clive Madande 24; Owen Muzondo 2/22, Tatenda Matimbe 1/6, Mssimba Marovatsanga 1/23)
Gladiators – 80-7 in 10 overs (Phrase Mukabeta 18*, Lennox Chando 17, Owen Muzondo 15; Marshall Takodza 3/7, Trevor Gwandu 1/9, Nkosilathi Nungu 1/22)
Lions won by 40 runs
Elton Chigumbura with the bat and Marshall Takodza with the ball were the leading players for Lions as they recorded a clear-cut 40-run victory over Gladiators in the first match of the Zim Cyber-City Domestic T10, powered by AVR PAY, played at Harare Sports Club on Thursday.
Lions were put in to bat by Gladiators, and responded well with a score of 120 for five wickets in their 10 overs.
It was good to see Chigumbura in action again, and he opened the batting to give his team a fine start by making their top score of 30 off 18 balls, with a six and three fours.
Consistent batting was the backbone of the Lions innings, with their first five batters all reaching double figures.
Clive Madande scored 24 off 15 balls, while the biggest hitting came from Tashinga Musekiwa, 26 off only eight balls, including three sixes in an over off Malcom Chikuhwa.
Christopher Masike followed him to the crease with 20 not out off eight balls, including two sixes, taking the score to 120 when the innings closed.
Owen Muzondo, with two for 22 off his two overs, was the most successful bowler.
Gladiators had a difficult target, but they were given a good start by Naison Mare (14) and Lennox Chando (17), who opened with a partnership of 25 off 2.4 overs.
However, Wessly Madhevere, in next, was dismissed for a single, as Takodza in his two overs took three vital wickets and then achieved a run-out.
Owen Muzondo (15) and Phrase Mukabeta (18 not out) hit out as best they could, but the innings faded away for 80, with seven wickets down.
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Takashinga Patriots 1 – 78-5 in 10 overs (Shingi Masakadza 37, Joylord Gumbie 13*, Innocent Kaia 11; Alex Falao 1/12, Sikandar Raza 1/12, Faraz Akram 1/14)
Harare Kings – 79-5 in 9 overs (Johnathan Campbell 21*, Sikandar Raza 21, Cephas Zhuwao 13; Tapiwa Mufudza 2/11, Cuthbert Musoko 1/3, Tinashe Kamunhukamwe 1/17)
Harare Kings won by five wickets
Despite a gallant innings of 37 by Shingi Masakadza to rescue Takashinga Patriots 1 after a bad start, they went down by five wickets to Harare Kings in the second match of the day at Harare Sports Club.
Sikandar Raza, captain of Kings, was not put off by the bad experience of Gladiators in putting their opponents in to bat, and he did the same to Takashinga.
Takashinga, with a star-studded batting line-up, made a poor start and never recovered.
They lost Tinashe Kamunhukamwe for three, Takudzwanashe Kaitano for six and Innocent Kaia for 11, three prime wickets down for 22 in the fourth over, followed by Baxon Gopito (1) in the next over.
Shingi Masakadza and Joylord Gumbie fought hard to bring about a recovery, and no more wickets were lost until Masakadza was run out off the final delivery, but they were unable to score as quickly as they needed.
Masakadza after 10 overs had scored 37 off 24 balls, with a six and three fours, while Gumbie made 13 off 14 balls.
The bowlers had done a good tight job, and the Takashinga total of 78 for five wickets did not look particularly challenging.
Kings opened their batting with the feared Cephas Zhuwao and Tarisai Musakanda, but both were out by the time the score was 20, for 13 and six respectively.
Raza came in and blasted five fours off six balls before being caught off the seventh for 20, and soon five wickets were down for 57 after six overs.
Johnathan Campbell steadied the innings with a well-judged 21 not out, while Ahsan Ali (five not out) stayed in with him until the match was won with an over to spare.
Tapiwa Mufudza was the best of the bowlers, taking two wickets, including that of Zhuwao, in his two overs and conceding only 11 runs.
The unfortunate Keith Jaure went for 25 runs in his only over, 20 of them to Raza after dismissing Musakanda with his first ball.
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Great Zimbabwe Patriots – 119-6 in 10 overs (Tadiwanashe Marumani 39, Richmond Mutumbami 28, Tony Munyonga 14; Munashe Chipara 3/23, Trevor Mutsamba 2/12, Daichi Nyandoro 1/23)
Takashinga Patriots 2 – 63-8 in 10 overs (Trevor Mutsamba 20*, Brian Majoka 17*, Nigel Mupurura 10; Sydney Murombo 5/6, Daniel Jakiel 1/9, Luke Jongwe 1/14)
Great Zimbabwe Patriots won by 56 runs
A remarkable hat-trick by Sydney Murombo for Great Zimbabwe Patriots overshadowed a good batting performance by their team that led to an eventual victory over Takashinga Patriots 2 by 56 runs in the third and final match at Harare Sports Club.
Costa Zhou, the Great Zimbabwe captain, bucked the trend by deciding to bat on winning the toss, and was rewarded by a flying start from his opening pair of Tadiwanashe Marumani and Richmond Mutumbami.
The second over, from Nigel Mupurura, yielded 24 runs, including four boundaries to Marumani.
Tendai Nyamayaro was almost as unfortunate as Mutumbami hit him for three fours, 16 off the over, to bring up the team fifty within four overs.
When Marumani was caught in the fifth over, he had scored 39 off only 18 balls (two sixes, five fours) and the score was 62 for one.
Zhou came in and quickly hit a six and a four, but then both he, for 12, and Mutumbami, 28 off 17 balls, went out on 83 in the seventh over to Trevor Mutsamba.
With Tony Munyonga in, the 100 came up in the eighth over.
Munyonga went for 14, and two wickets fell with the last two deliveries of the innings, but Great Zimbabwe still totalled a good 119 for six in their 20 overs.
The Takashinga innings was unfortunately a flaky display.
Tariro Mukauyo scored two runs off the first over from Luke Jongwe, but was bowled out by the final delivery.
Murombo took a hat-trick in his first over, and all were bowled out – Knowledge Kaia, the experienced Cunningham Ncube and Tinashe Nenhunzi – a particularly rare achievement.
Daniel Jakiel took a wicket in his next over, and then Murombo bowled his second over to take two more wickets, these too being bowled out, as the Takashinga batters seemed to be overwhelmed with panic and confusion.
With the score at four runs for seven wickets, Mupurura finally came in at number nine and hit a four off Murombo to ruin his figures.
Brian Majoka also stayed in, but at this stage there was nothing more the pair could do than just score whatever runs they could to limit the damage.
Mupurura was out for 10 when the score was 31, but Mutsamba hit out to score 20 while Majoka made 17, both still not out when the innings closed after 10 overs, with a score of 63 for eight wickets.
Murombo’s figures were five wickets for six runs in his two overs, a remarkable performance.
