Takashinga Patriots 2 – 45-7 in 10 overs (Tinashe Nenhunzi 11, Cunningham Ncube 6, Tendai Nyamayaro 5; Kudakwashe Macheka 3/14, Arnold Shara 2/9, Marshall Takodza 1/5)
Lions – 47-0 in 4.4 overs (Elton Chigumbura 27*, Blessed Muzite 14)
Lions won by 10 wickets
Three wickets from Kudakwashe Mucheka and 27 runs by Elton Chigumbura were the main features in Lions’ easy 10-wicket victory over Takashinga Patriots 2 in the first Zim Cyber-City Domestic T10 match at Harare Sports Club on Saturday.
Takashinga decided to bat first in warm sunny weather, and were in trouble from the first ball, when Nyasha Chivore was bowled by Trevor Gwandu, followed by the bowling of Daniel Zvidzai (10) by Macheka’s first ball.
There was a brief respite as Tinashe Nenhunzi (11) and Knowledge Kaia (5) put on 16 for the third wicket, but then wickets fell again.
Cunningham Ncube was caught and bowled by Macheka for six, which took him 13 balls.
After 10 overs the side had scored only 45 runs for seven wickets, leaving Lions with an easy target.
Macheka was the star bowler, with three wickets for 14 runs in his two overs, while Arnold Shara took two for nine.
Chigumbura opened the Lions’ batting with Blessed Muzite, and they were under no great pressure to force the scoring with such a comparatively small task.
Chigumbura played himself in for a few balls, and then began to look for the boundary, although both batters skilfully worked the ball around the field for singles.
It took them only four overs and four balls to complete their victory without loss, Chigumbura finishing with 27 not out off 15 balls (five fours) and Muzite with 14 off 13.
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Westside – 68-5 in 10 overs (Kevin Kasuza 31, Kudzai Sauramba 14*, Donald Tiripano 11; Charlton Tshuma 2/13, Tanatswa Bechani 1/8, Chris Mpofu 1/9)
Bulawayo Athletic Club – 70-5 in 9.1 overs (Nyasha Mayavo 32, Nkosana Mpofu 27, Thamsanqa Nunu 5*; Frank Mazviita 4/1, Vincent Masekesa 1/15)
Bulawayo Athletic Club won by five wickets
A remarkable four-wicket over from Frank Mwazviita of Westside could not prevent Bulawayo Athletic Club from crawling over the finishing line to defeat them by, in the end, five wickets.
Westside were put in to bat and never recovered from a bad start.
After four deliveries from Charlton Tshuma, they had two wickets down for two runs: Clive Chitumba was caught at the wicket by Nyasha Mayavo for one and Definate Mawadzi caught off the next ball.
Kevin Kasuza held firm and scored a good 31 off 21 balls, with a six and three fours, while Donald Tiripano scored 11 in his company, and Kudzai Sauramba 14 not out off 17, but he was unable to reach the scoring rate desired.
After 10 overs the score was a disappointing 68 for five wickets.
Tshuma took two wickets for 13 runs, while Tanatswa Bechani and Chris Mpofu each took one wicket in their two overs for only eight and nine runs respectively.
Again, the side batting second were not under great pressure to reach the target, and Nkosana Mpofu and Mayavo pushed the BAC score along steadily.
They looked likely to win a massive victory by 10 wickets, but on 64 Mpofu hit out at Vincent Masekesa and was caught for 27, scored off 25 balls with four fours.
In the next over, from Mwazviita, Mayavo followed his opening partner, bowled out for 32 off 25 balls, also with four fours.
Insanity then seemed to sweep through the BAC batters, as Mwazviita bowled out Allan Chigoma with the next ball.
Two balls later Brandon Mavuta was caught, and off the final delivery Bechani lbw, to make the score now 66 for five wickets.
Fortune Mhlanga bowled the next over, and Thamsanqa Nunu showed he had had enough of this nonsense by hitting his first ball for four to win the match.
Mwazviita had the remarkable bowling figures of one over for one run and four wickets, but in an ultimately losing cause.
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Great Zimbabwe Patriots – 108-3 in 10 overs (Costa Zhou 32, Richmond Mutumbami 29, Tony Munyonga 28*; Tatenda Matimbe 2/16, Malcom Chikuhwa 1/21)
Gladiators – 85-6 in 10 overs (Tinashe Chimbambo 23, Lennox Chando 19, Naison Mare 18; Daniel Jakiel 3/18, Luke Jongwe 2/11, George Matanga 1/11)
Great Zimbabwe Patriots won by 23 runs
Dashing innings from Richmond Mutumbami and Tony Munyonga in particular for Great Zimbabwe Patriots could not be matched by the Gladiators batters, whose poor early run rate let them down so badly that they could never make up for lost ground and went down by 23 runs in the end.
Despite the course of events in the first two matches, Great Zimbabwe chose to bat first on winning the toss.
Mutumbami and Tadiwanashe Marumani were quickly under way: Marumani cracked the first ball of the match, from Masimba Marovatsanga, for four, and in the second over Mutumbami hit Tatenda Matimbe for two successive sixes.
Mutumbami took most of the bowling, but lost Marumani for seven when he was bowled by Matimbe at 35 for one in the fourth over.
Mutumbami by now was already on 29, but he was caught for that score later in the over at 38.
Costa Zhou and Munyonga took over very capably and got the score moving along at a good pace.
Batting very well, they took the score past the hundred and were only separated in the last over, at 101, when Zhou was caught off Malcom Chikuhwa for 32 off 24 balls, with a six and three fours.
Munyonga promptly hit a six and took the score up to 108 before the innings closed, finishing with 28 not out off 14 balls, with two sixes and two fours.
Matimbe was the best of the bowlers, with two wickets for 16 off his two overs.
Wessly Madhevere lasted only four balls for six runs when Gladiators batted.
Lennox Chando and Naison Mare scored 42 for the second wicket until Chando was dismissed for 19 in the sixth over, with the required run rate moving steadily upwards.
Mare struggled to score quickly enough, but Tinashe Chimbambo hit out as best he could.
When 38 runs were needed off the last two overs, Gladiators were in trouble, even though they had eight wickets left.
Mare was then caught for 18 off 18 balls, a scoring rate much too slow in the circumstances, and with 34 still needed off the final over all reasonable hope had gone.
Daniel Jakiel bowled that over and had Chimbambo lbw for 23 off 16 balls – he had done his best for his team, but the task when he came in was too hard.
Masimba Marovatsanga came in and was able to hit a six before being bowled for nine from the final delivery.
Jakiel finished with figures of three for 18, while Luke Jongwe had two for 11.
