Despite a disaster in their middle-order batting, MidWest Rhinos finally secured a victory in the Pro50 competition as the Mountaineers batting put up a dismal display and surrendered weakly by a large margin of 125 runs.
By Edward Makuzva
The visitors’ batting was uneven, but the innings of Tendai Maruma, Prince Masvaure and newcomer James Bruce did enough in the end, while none of the Mountaineers’ batsmen could reach 20, at Mutare Sports Club.
Zimbabwe Cricket Media and Communications Manager Lovemore Banda said MidWest Rhinos won the toss and decided to bat.
Banda said both teams were lacking their national players, opposing Afghanistan in Sharjah, but Mountaineers appeared to have much stronger reserve strength, their team consisting mainly of players who have recently interested the national selectors.
The Communications Manager added Tendai Chatara, returning to cricket for the first time since breaking his leg almost a year ago. MidWest Rhinos could only raise a team of regular franchise players, with Michael Chinouya probably the only member of it on the selectors’ minds.
They were bottom of the Pro50 table without a point after five defeats in five matches.
“Despite this, MidWest Rhinos made an excellent start to the match. Bothwell Chapungu soon displayed his new style of play, after the manner of Cephas Zhuwao: opening the batting with power hitting.
“The second and third balls of the match, from Shingirai Masakadza, he lofted to the leg side boundary, and was helped by Tendai Maruma, who has more recently followed his example.
“ The pair raced to 30 in the fifth over before Masakadza trapped Chapungu leg before wicket (lbw) for 15, scored off 14 balls with two fours and a six”, Banda explained.
He said Maruma continued to bat aggressively with Prince Masvaure as his new partner. Chatara came on to bowl and looked quite quick and generally accurate, slowing down the scoring rate, as did the off-spinner Tapiwa Mufudza. But the runs still came, the team 100 coming up in the 19th over, and shortly afterwards Maruma reached his fifty off 61 balls.
At one stage MidWest Rhinos were 118 for one in the 24th over and looking well set for an impressive total. Twenty runs later the innings was in shreds, seven more wickets having gone down as the wheels came off with a vengeance.
“It began when Masvaure was stumped off Mufudza for 41, and in the next over Maruma drove a soft catch off Tafadzwa Kamungozi into the covers for 53. The middle order for the most part threw their wickets away to the two spinners, and from a potentially winning position MidWest Rhinos now looked doomed to defeat at 135 for eight.
“At the crease was James Bruce, a former Under-19 left-arm seam bowler currently in his final year at the University of Pretoria, after which he hopes to return to Zimbabwe. He also showed batting ability, putting on 15 for the ninth wicket with Kudakwashe Munyede (9), and then found unexpected help from the last man Richard Muzhange”, said Banda.
With increasing confidence they mastered the bowling – Mufudza had now completed his 10 overs for only 19 runs and three wickets – until Bruce brought up the team 200 and his own fifty, off only 49 balls, with two successive leg-side sixes off Masakadza.
Banda said Muzhange swung the last ball of the innings, from Victor Nyauchi, over the midwicket boundary for six, to take the final score to 223 for nine. Bruce had 63 and Muzhange took his score to 20; they had added an unbroken 73 together. This was probably the performance that decided the match.
Besides Mufudza, Kamungozi took three wickets, for 28 runs off nine overs.
Mountaineers were interested in reaching their target in 40 overs to obtain a bonus point and equal Mashonaland Eagles, who are playing Matabeleland Tuskers tomorrow, at the top of the table, but they began their innings with caution.
It did not pay, as Bruce produced a fine delivery to bring him a memorable first wicket in this class of cricket, bowling a ball right through Roy Kaia and shattering his stumps for 10. In the next over Chinouya trapped Kevin Kasuza lbw for four, and Mountaineers were in some trouble at 20 for two wickets.
Vusumuzi Sibanda tried a more aggressive approach, scoring 11 off nine balls, but then skied a drive off Chinouya that was very well held by Tendai Maruma running back from mid-off. In the next over, from Bruce, Maruma’s brother Timycen, on the batting side, played a ball on to his stumps, and at 32 for four Mountaineers were in great trouble, and they were playing a long tail of five good bowlers, of whom only Masakadza is a reasonable batsman.
The next to go was Forster Mutizwa, caught at the wicket off Masvaure for 10: 58 for five. Kudzai Sauramba fought hard for 17, destined to be the highest score of the innings, but when he was given out caught down the leg side off Masvaure at 66 for six, all realistic hope for Mountaineers had gone. Sure enough, the tail had little to offer and the last wicket fell at 98.
There were three wickets each to Muzhange and Masvaure, and two to Chinouya and Bruce.
It was a relief at the end of the Pro50 season to Mid-West Rhinos to gain a consolation victory, but very disappointing for Mountaineers, who had hoped to catch Mashonaland Eagles at the top of the table, but their batsmen were never up for the fight.
Whatever the result of the match between Eagles and Tuskers tomorrow, the former are Pro50 champions by a margin of at least five points.
MidWest Rhinos won by 125 runs.
